Dreams of Black Wall Street

Many experts view the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat as a turning point in the fortunes of African Americans in North Carolina and across the nation. The 1898 white supremacy campaign that led to the Wilmington Massacre was an all out assault on Wilmington’s Black middle class and provided a blue print for the white supremacy campaign the following year that effectively barred African Americans in the state from voting at the polls and participating in politics until the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The strategies employed by the white supremacy campaigns in North Carolina were replicated in states across the South and used to disenfranchise African Americans across the country. The more political power White Democrats gained, the larger the leverage they held in political engagement with White Republicans - and the more inclined White Republicans were to disregard the majority of their African American supporters when it became politically and economically advantageous to do so, which was quite often.  While the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat was the beginning of the decline of Wilmington’s Black Middle Class, this was also around the time Durham’s Black Wall Street began to emerge as an economic engine of Blacks in the Bull City. 1898 was the same year what would become the Durham-based North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company was founded, which would eventually grow into the largest Black-owned insurance company in the world and one of the largest Black businesses in the United States at its height. The leaders that helped steer Black Durham’s growth did so with the cautionary tale of Wilmington serving as a reminder of the fleeting nature of good fortune.  After decades of prosperity and growth, the root of the demise of Durham’s Black Wall Street mirrored that of scores of thriving Black communities that also emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century and declined in the middle to latter part of the 20th century: Urban Renewal. The racially discriminatory practices that formed the infrastructure of the federal government’s Urban Renewal program that carried on into the 1970’s was paraded throughout the country under the guise of urban revitalization. However, in the case of Black Durham and dozens of other Black communities nationwide, promises of new and improved housing, transportation and business opportunities never came. Instead property was demolished and/or seized by governments, residents and businesses, were displaced, wealth was lost, education suffered and highways were built straight through African American neighborhoods - like Durham’s Haiti community - a final nail in the coffin to whatever prospect of prosperity remained. Over the next several decades Durham’s Black community continued to suffer economic decline, never to regain the level of prosperity it once knew. Today, many Blacks in Durham face poorer outcomes than their forefathers and mothers did a century prior.  Similarly, following the 1898 Wilmington massacre, the African American population in the once majority Black city continued to decline as social, political and economic opportunities for Blacks in Wilmington dried up while the state of North Carolina became an increasingly racially hostile place to live. The loss of wealth stemming from the Wilmington Massacre coupled with the loss of opportunities that followed continue to manifest in poor socio-economic outcomes for Blacks in Wilmington in the present day.

Not only was Pauli Murray was one of the most important Civil Rights leaders that Black Durham ever produced, she was also one of the most important Civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Murray was a jurist and activist who contributed some of the legal groundwork to the civil rights movement. Pauli gained national attention during her failed attempt to study at the all-white University of North Carolina, which is when Murray developed a life-long friendship with the first lady at the time, Eleanor Roosevelt. Murray was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and helped form the nonviolence-focused Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Murray went to the University of California Boalt School of Law where s/he received an LLM (Master of Laws) degree. In 1951 Murray published the book, States’ Laws on Race and Color. Thurgood Marshall, head of the legal department at the (NAACP) at the time, described it as the “Bible” for civil rights litigators.  Shortly after her book Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, came out in 1956, Murray took a job in the litigation department at the law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton, and Garrison. In 1965, Pauli became the first African-American to receive a JSD degree from Yale Law School. The accolades go on and on. So why isn’t Murray a household name? Murray never sought a public profile. Though experts surmise that her gender non-conformity must have been a factor. Nevertheless, recent efforts to give Murray the recognition she deserves have shined a brighter light on her incredible life.

Black women have often been omitted or written out of history. This much is true when it comes to many women leaders of Black Durham in the first several decades of the 20th century, when Durham, North Carolina’s Black Wall Street was at it’s height, as well as Black women across the state of North Carolina during this time period. As a result many Black women have never received the recognition or credit they deserved, in life or afterwards, for the contributions they made to their communities and society. This includes many Black women who took on central roles as de facto, sometimes clandestine political figures in the Jim Crow era after the disfranchisement of Black men in 1900. Some of Dr. Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore's work refocuses attention on these women by exploring the instrumental and interconnected relationship of gender, class and race in North Carolina politics. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

Black women have often been omitted or written out of history. This much is true when it comes to many women leaders of Black Durham in the first several decades of the 20th century, when Durham, North Carolina’s Black Wall Street was at it’s height. As a result many Black women have never received the recognition or credit they deserved, in life or afterwards, for the contributions they made to their communities and society. Much of the work of the late Dr. Leslie Brown focused on analyzing the lives of working class, middle class and elite Black women and men in relation to working class, middle class and elite White women and men in Durham, North Carolina. In doing so she amplified the lives and voices of Black women who played pivotal roles in the upbuilding of their community, particularly during one of the darkest moments in the history of the state following the Civil War: the period immediately after the disfranchisement of Black men in North Carolina in 1900. Brown’s work was groundbreaking and significantly expanded what is understood about the social fabric of what was once known as the “Capital of the Black Middle Class.” Similarly, Dr. Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore has also spent a great deal of time refocusing attention to the central role of Black women as political figures in North Carolina during the Jim Crow era by exploring the instrumental and interconnected relationship of gender, class and race in North Carolina politics from the period immediately prior to the disfranchisement of Black men in 1900 to the period when Black and white women gained the vote in 1920. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

The pioneers and leaders of Black Durham during the early 20th century are often lauded for steering their community through the challenges of living in the Jim Crow South while creating some of the most successful African American-lead businesses, educational and financial institutions of the era. The legacy of Durham’s Black Wall Street along with the historic and prosperous Hayti community remain among the more celebrated of their accomplishments. Often absent from dialogue surrounding this history are the complicated choices that Black Durham’s leaders had to make in order to facilitate the development of their community, and how those choices impacted their own constituents as well as the race as a whole. Black Durham’s citizens sometimes had competing viewpoints and disagreed on what direction the ship should be steered in order to support African American advancement. Additionally, while stories of Black Durham’s leadership are often drawn from scholarly sources, listeners will hear from the direct descendants of two of Durham’s most influential pioneers: John Merrick and Dr. Aaron Moore. Not only were the men business partners and friends, eventually they also became family. Greensboro, NC City Attorney Charles D. Watts Jr., Esq. and his sister, Eileen Watts Welch, who serves as the President of the Durham Colored Library, Inc., offer personal perspectives on their family history and legacy. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

An exploration of the complicated intersection of race, class and politics in Durham, North Carolina. Black Durham’s leaders played an integral role in the “Upbuilding” of their community and overcame great obstacles that were common at the time in the Jim Crow South. In the absence of African American political representation after Jim Crow legislation eviscerated Black political participation, Durham’s Black leaders became de facto representatives on behalf of their community, which allowed them to liaise with White city and state leadership in order to facilitate community progress. This does not mean African American leaders in Durham solely relied on a paternalistic relationship with White stakeholders to assist in the advancement of their race. Durham’s African American leaders leaned heavily on their own expertise and institution building acumen to create opportunities for people of color in Durham that continued to pay dividends for years to come. On the other hand, there were other African Americans districts in Durham and most of their inhabitants were not well off like the Black elite or middle class in the historic Hayti neighborhood. Many African Americans and people of color in Durham were poor or working class and struggled to make ends meet. This fact is often absent in discourse surrounding Durham’s Black Wall Street. Class distinctions between the wealthy or well-off, the poor, and everyone in between in Black Durham, mirrored those of White Durham. Additionally, while racism was a burden for all people of color, class distinctions often determined the degree to which that burden impacted the daily lives of Blacks in Durham. Listeners will hear from the late Dr. Leslie Brown, who was an expert in the history of Black Durham and specialized in history during the Jim Crow Era. Guests in this episode include Dr. William Darity, who is the Director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, a Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, a Professor of African and African American Studies as well as Economics. Listeners will also hear from Professor Henry McKoy, who is the North Carolina Central University Director of Entrepreneurship at the School of Business and Managing Director of the Eagle Angel Network.     Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

Black Durham’s success did not end with Black Wall Street. Durham’s Black Wall Street was located in the historic Hayti community. Many community members believe it was named after the independent Black nation of Haiti. The neighborhood was the principal residential district for most of Durham’s Black middle class residents and the center Black Durham’s business, educational, cultural, and religious life. Hayti was a model for other African American communities across the nation and an example of what was possible. The Hayti community and Durham flourished in the Jim Crow South and largely managed to avoid the sort of aggression, and terror that was common for Blacks at the time. However, Hayti was not the only Black neighborhood in Durham. Many African Americans in Durham were not not wealthy or middle class like those in Hayti. A significant portion of people of color were poor or working class and struggled to get by. Many labored in the city’s tobacco factories, which sprang up following the tobacco-driven economic boom Durham experienced in the late 19th and early 20th century. Guests in this episode include Hayti Heritage Center Executive Director, Angela Lee. Listeners will also hear from Duke University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Robert Korstad. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

The beginning of an exploration into the community of Durham, North Carolina in the period following the 1898 white supremacist campaign that led to the Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat that same year. The tobacco boom in Durham in the late 1800’s helped establish the city as a center of enterprise in North Carolina. Durham’s burgeoning population in the late 19th century accelerated the city’s economic growth further still, which continued to be fueled in large part by the tobacco and textile industries. Over the next several decades the city continued to draw migrants, including Whites and Blacks, in search of steady employment and business opportunities.  Just as a small group of White entrepreneurs capitalized the proliferation of enterprise in Durham and became very successful, so did a group of African American entrepreneurs and professionals, who, over time, became patriarchs of Black Durham and de facto spokesmen for Black people in the absence of Black political participation or representation for African Americans in North Carolina. The men were responsible for the founding and success of a number of enterprises, including North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association, which later became North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company: the first black-owned insurance company in the state and the largest in the nation, The street it was located on in Durham--Parrish St.-- became known as Black Wall Street. At its height, Black Durham was considered the “Capital of the Black middle class” in America: a reputation that earned acclaim from some of the day’s most prominent leaders, including Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois.  Guests in this episode include Duke University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Robert Korstad, as well as North Carolina Central University business, Professor Henry McKoy. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows Several musical selections are also provided by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Almost immediately following the white supremacist campaign that culminated in the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D’Etat came the 1900 white supremacist campaign that culminated in the “Suffrage Amendment” to the North Carolina constitution, which helped engineer the near complete elimination of Blacks from voter participation in North Carolina until the voting rights act of 1965. This campaign would change the course of North Carolina’s social and political trajectory - and result in seemingly immutable ramifications for African Americans in North Carolina for decades to come: the effects of which the United State’s continues to see in the present day.  A number of experts have asserted that the 1898 white supremacist campaign was a blueprint, not only for the 1900 white supremacist campaign in North Carolina, but also for similar acts of oppression and violence across the Jim Crow South. Guests in this episode include David Zucchino - New York Times Journalist and author of Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy. Listeners will also hear from attorney Richard Paschal, who is also the author of Jim Crow in North Carolina: The Legislative Program from 1865 to 1920. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

The continuation of a deep dive into the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat. The massacre was part of a larger white supremacy campaign organized by Democratic leaders in North Carolina. It resulted in the deaths of potentially hundreds of African Americans who lived in Wilmington's Black community, which is were its thriving Black middle class resided. Property owned by African Americans was destroyed. The city's duly elected multi-racial local government - made up of Blacks and whites - was ousted from office and white supremacists were installed through methods of violence, coercion and fraud. In a period of months, Wilmington went from being North Carolina's largest city that was made up of a majority of African American residents to a majority white city that would see its Black population continue to dwindle and lose much of the wealth it had previously amassed in the coming years. Listeners will hear from descendants of Alexander Manly (a target of the Massacre and the editor of the only Black daily newspaper at the time), including Kieran Haile as well as Leila Haile. Listeners will also hear from North Carolina Central University Law Professor Irving Joyner. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

A special episode commemorating the 123rd anniversary of the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat with highlights from commemorative events in Wilmington, North Carolina. Listeners will hear from a number of local and elected leaders in Wilmington as well as a member of the "Wilmington 10," Dr. Benjamin Chavis. Chavis returned to the city as a key note speaker at a special ceremony to commemorate the Wilmington Massacre decades after he was wrongfully convicted of conspiracy and arson along with nine other civil rights activists.

The beginning of a deep dive into the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup D'Etat. The massacre was part of a larger white supremacy campaign organized by Democratic leaders in North Carolina. It resulted in the deaths of potentially hundreds of African Americans who lived in Wilmington's Black community, which is where its thriving Black middle class resided. Property owned by African Americans was destroyed. The city's duly elected multi-racial local government - made up of Blacks and whites - was ousted from office and white supremacists were installed through methods of violence, coercion and fraud. In a period of months, Wilmington went from being North Carolina's largest city that was made up of a majority of African American residents to a majority white city that would see its Black population continue to dwindle and lose much of the wealth it had previously amassed in the coming years. Listeners will hear from Pulitzer Prize-winner, contributing writer for the New York Times and author of Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy, David Zucchino. Musical Attribution:    1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon    2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 

Journalist, podcast host and producer, Nia Clark, revisits often overlooked but important parts of North Carolina's history that have played a significant part in shaping some of the state's most influential African American communities such as Wilmington, Raleigh, James City, Princeville and Durham. Clark also begins a deep dive exploration of the city of Wilmington before the 1898 Wilmington Insurrection and Coup d'Etat. Guests on this episode include attorney, legal scholar and author of Jim Crow in North Carolina: The Legislative Program from 1865 to 1920, Richard Paschal, as well as North Carolina Central State University Law Professor Irving Joyner. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows Several musical selections are also provided by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Journalist, podcast host and producer, Nia Clark introduces season three: This season will explore several important events and places in North Carolina’s history during the 19th and early 20th century, including two different - once prosperous Black communities that share an interconnected history. The Black community in Wilmington, North Carolina that became the target of the nearly forgotten Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 as well as the early 20th century community of Durham’s Black Wall Street. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows Several musical selections are also provided by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Journalist, podcast host and producer, Nia Clark, traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In this episode, she shares her experience attending many of the centennial commemorative events as well as the people she interviewed and met along the way while visiting Tulsa. Listeners will also hear a sneak peak of Season 3, which will take a deep dive into several important events and places in North Carolina’s history during the 19th and early 20th century, including the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 as well as the early 20th century community of Durham’s Black Wall Street. Musical Attribution: 1. Title: African Moon by John Bartmann. License, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon 2. Title: Window Sparrows by Axletree. Licensed under a Attribution License. License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows

In studying the systemic devaluing of Black life, it is important to understand how Black life is also - and often - devalued even after death. Like victims of other similar racially motivated or violent atrocities, the victims of Rosewood never had the proper burial that is custom in Black communities. This was not uncommon during the era of the Jim Crow South. Efforts are underway to discover where Rosewood Massacre victims are buried and if there is a way to give them the burial they deserved. Retired psychology professor and historian, Dr. Marvin Dunn is among those leading these efforts. While Black people have not lived in Rosewood for years, Dunn has purchased five acres of land in Rosewood “to save the piece of Rosewood for history” so that people can visit Rosewood and walk on that ground without being accused of trespassing. While the events leading up to, during and after the Rosewood Massacre have heavily influenced the trajectories of so many involved as well as their descendants, even if that trajectory has been disadvantageous for Rosewood victims, survivors and descendants, it is not fixed. Guest in this episode also include A. Donahue Baker, co-founder, Money Avenue, LLC, who has worked hard to change the economic trajectory of his life and that of his community. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

When Rosewood descendant, Arnett Doctor, began looking for an attorney to help him seek legal recourse for the survivors of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre he encountered brick wall after brick wall. He could not find a single lawyer to take on the case for several years, until he met attorney, Stephen Hanlon, who was featured in ep. 10 Rosewood: Justice for All. That encounter would change the course of history. What neither Hanlon nor Doctor knew when they first met was the almost unbelievable connections to Rosewood another lead attorney who would eventually join the case would have. That attorney was Martha Barnett. Barnett practiced law for nearly 50 years eventually rising to the top of her field. It was Barnett’s childhood, however, that helped strengthen her determine to produce some sort of Justice for Rosewood Massacre survivors. That justice would come in the form of House Bill 591. All of the hours Barnett spent with her law firm colleague, Stephen Hanlon, weren't just about business. It was personal.   In this episode, listeners will hear from Barnett as well as Rosewood descendants Virginia D. Hayes as well as Carlous Hall. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

In America, citizenship implies the ability to enjoy the full rights of freedom. This question of who belongs to American society, who is a real American citizen, has been a central problem since the time of the Revolution.Rosewood is but one example of the enormous cost African Americans have had to pay for pursuing the promise of full citizenship in America. Those who terrorized Rosewood did so with impunity largely because Black people in America simply were not counted as full citizens. Their existence was one of second or third class citizenship. This is why those who escaped the Rosewood Massacre and lived to talk about it rarely did. They understood that many members of the mobs who hunted Rosewood residents like animals during the first week of January in 1923 were alive and well in the years that followed. Some were even neighbors in communities some of the survivors had relocated to. And as second or third class citizens - those who escaped the Massacre felt their survival depended upon their silence. For nearly 60 years - Rosewood remained buried in the memories of those who escaped, witnessed or caused the massacre until a journalist named Gary Moore who worked for the St. Petersburg Times, which is now the Tampa Bay Times, started looking into the Rosewood Massacre in early 1982. His investigative expose was published in the paper on July 25, 1982. Since then the story of Rosewood has been brought into clearer focus through hours upon hours of further investigations and research and media coverage. Eventually a number of elderly Rosewood survivors decided that the time had come for them to seek justice in the form of a claims bill in the Florida Legislature that produced the nation's only government compensation payments to Lynching Era victims. In this episode, listeners will hear from journalist and author, Michael D’Orso, who is the author of “Like Judgement Day:” a detailed account of the Rosewood Massacre as well as the lives of the survivors in the decades that followed and their years long fight for justice and compensation. Guests on this episode also include Gregory Black, Director of the Rosewood Heritage Foundation; Stephen Hanlon, lead attorney in the Rosewood claims bill and St. Louis University School of Law Professor; and University of Florida Professor, Dr. Maxine Jones, who worked as principal investigator for the Rosewood Academic Study. Musical Attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

Despite the symbiosis shared by the communities of Rosewood and neighboring Sumner as well as the relative peace that made that symbiosis possible, research shows racial tensions simmered between the two communities long before the Rosewood Massacre. In hindsight, the moderate prosperity enjoyed by Blacks in Rosewood coupled with the animosity generated by those who did not believe African Americans had a right to prosperity may well have foreshadowed the unjust racial cleansing that was to come in Rosewood. The mobs that killed, maimed and ran every Black resident out of Rosewood weren’t just terrorizing the community. They were also sending a message. Blacks were to leave an never come back. Their property would be looted and/or destroyed. Those who could be caught would be killed. Those who managed to escape must never return. If they did they likely wouldn’t make it out alive again. The message was received loud and clear. The violent, deadly culture of racial superiority that made it nearly impossible for many Blacks to strive for full citizenship, let alone enjoy any measure of it for a long period of time ensured that those responsible for that racial cleansing would never have to answer for their crimes.  This is why, even if the survivors of the Rosewood Massacre wanted to to return, they understand that was not an option.  Those who were fortunate enough to escape the carnage and destruction of the only home most had ever known knew that those who were responsible for the trauma they endured during that first week of January 1923 could do it all over again and still face no consequences for their actions the second time around. So when the survivors left Rosewood, most left for good. Those who did return wouldn’t do so for more than a half of a century later. Listeners will hear an original song about the Rosewood Massacre by Blues musician Eric Bibb called Rosewood. Listeners will also hear from journalist and author, Michael D’Orso, who is the author of “Like Judgement Day:” a detailed account of the Rosewood Massacre as well as the lives of the survivors in the decades that followed and their years long fight for justice and compensation. Guests on this episode include Dr. Benea Denson, a descendant of one of the original families to settle in Rosewood: the Evans family. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

It has been 98 years since Rosewood, Florida was destroyed. The first week of January marked the 98th anniversary of the tragedy. Rosewood, represented what was possible when Black people pooled their resources and knowledge to build a community even in the Jim Crow South. It was a economically diverse community made up of houses, industries, turpentine stills, saw mills, orange groves, market gardens, a train Depot and a post office. It has been described as a community similar to an old West town. Many Residents of this predominantly African American town in 1920s America owned their own property and businesses and in fact did well for themselves considering the times. Many people who lived in Rosewood were also domestic workers for white families in Sumner or worked in the sawmill in located in Sumner. 98 years ago, during the first week of January 1923 several mobs began what amounted to a violent, deadly racial cleansing in the rural hamlet. Accounts of the death toll vary, ranging from less than 10 people to more than 100. On January 1, 1923, a 22-year-old woman who lived in Sumner, Florida named Fannie Taylor, alleged that she had been beaten by a Black man. Most historical accounts claim this was a lie. If that is the case than that lie sparked - the events - that would cause the demise of a promising community and haunt survivors of the Massacre as well as their descendants for decades to come. For the first time ever, Fanny Taylor’s great, great grandson is publicly speaking about about his family’s connection to Rosewood. Michael Leech only recently learned about his great, great, grandmother’s involvement in the Rosewood Massacre. Guests in this episode also include, historian and archivist, Sherry Sherrod DuPree of the Rosewood Heritage Foundation. Listeners will hear an account about circumstances surrounding the Rosewood Massacre by a man named Joe Eddie Scott, which was recorded as part of the African American History Project at the University of Florida. Finally, listeners will also hear an original song about the Rosewood Massacre that was written and performed by singer/song writer, Jane Ross Fallon, which won first place in the Will McLean Festival in Brooksville, and and the South Florida Folk Festival. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

Like atrocities of a similar nature, the tragedy of the Rosewood Massacre draws attention to the community of Rosewood. It makes us take notice. But once that attention is fixed on these communities, we begin to discover worlds that many of us had little to no knowledge of previously. Too often, the stories of these worlds have been hidden or distorted and the narrative. They've been controlled by people who have very little connection to or understanding about them. Yet, so much of our world today exists because of the worlds of our past. Similarly, Rosewood was far more than another Black community that was massacred. It was a world of real people, with names, and lives, hopes and dreams, problems, pain and fear. Although those who destroyed Rosewood tried to erase every sign of Black life, Rosewood's legacy lives on. However, the fact is, far too few people have any knowledge of what kind of community Rosewood really was before it was destroyed. Most of those who are familiar with Rosewood are only familiar with the massacre of Rosewood. This episode explores Rosewood as a community beginning from the days when it was first settled. Guests in this episode include historian and archivist, Sherry Sherrod DuPree of the Rosewood Heritage Foundation as well as archeologist and University of Florida lecturer, Dr. Edward Gonzalez-Tennant. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

Throughout much of the 20th century, Florida had been a Ku Klux Klan stronghold. Klansmen found friends in government who occupied offices on local, state and federal offices. By 1925 the Klan had about 3 million members nationwide. Three years later, their ranks began to shrink. In Florida, however, the Klan grew. Their strongest factions could be found in Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were often responsible for lynchings. From 1900 to 1930, Florida had the highest ratio of lynchings per capita (per capita being the average per person). Some scholars believe that, "Black men were more at risk of being lynched in Florida than any other state” and viewed Florida as a lynching capital. Lynching was not only a tool of terror and control - but also a response to the changing landscape of the country. Such was the case in a community not far from Rosewood called Perry Florida, where an attack eerily similar in nature took place just one month before the community of Rosewood perished at the hands of a mob similar to those who terrorized Perry. The attack could be viewed as a foreshadowing of what was to come at the start of the New Year in 1923. However, as Florida State University Professor, Meghan Martinez explains, such incidents were unfortunately much more common and than most people understand. They had become woven into the daily realities of Black Americans and minorities in Florida in the early 1900’s.  Listeners will also hear recordings of a talk given by Dr. Paul Ortiz. Professor Ortiz is the director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida. He is also the author of a number of books, including Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920. Professor Ortiz teaches undergraduate courses and supervises graduate fields. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

Michigan state University English Professor, Julian Chambliss, explains that the idea of town or community creation is not an exception for African Americans. The idea of creating ones own community because one isn’t able to get a fair shake was actually a common response to conditions such as the end of Slavery, the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow. It was also one of the ways African Americans sought to carve out a path to the rights one enjoys as a full citizen of the United States such as voting, free and fair civic engagement, land ownership, the opportunity to prosper and education. A good example of this philosophy is the town of Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville is known as one of the first - and some would argue it is the first - incorporated all-Black town in the United States. Like Ocoee, Florida, which was explored in the previous two episodes, it is located in Orange County.    Eatonville represents what is possible when - despite great odds - a community pools its resources, leans on informal safety nets such as faith and strong communal ties, musters a sense of resilience that is only possible after enduring generations of hardship and shares a collective dream of a better tomorrow. It was founded at a time when it was difficult for Black Americans to acquire land because many southern land owners refused to sell to them. However, an African American man named Joseph Clarke envisioned an all black town and was determined to make it happen. He discussed the idea with two white former Republican Union officers named Captain Eaton and Captain Lawrence, who both supported the idea. Eaton and Lawrence were invested in the idea of moral capitalism and believed that helping Blacks to purchase their own land and manage their own community could be a mutually beneficial allyship. This is how Joseph Clark and 26 other African American men were able to come into possession of the land they needed to found Eatonville. What is unique about Eatonville, is that it is one of a small number of all-black towns or settlements formed after the Civil War that still exists today. Throughout this time, it continued to exist in the Jim Crow south and beyond without disruption by violent race-based assaults such as those experienced in Ocoee, Perry and Rosewood, Florida. This is one of the reasons that African Americans in Eatonville were able to prosper in its early years and why they enjoyed a sense of freedom and security many other African American communities in Florida at the time did not.      Guests in this episode include N.Y. Nathiri is an Executive Director for the Association to Preserve Eatonville Community as well as Michigan State University English Professor Julian Chambliss. Chambliss also has an appointment in History and the Val Berryman Curator of History at the MSU Museum at Michigan State University. In addition, he is a core participant in the MSU College of Arts & Letters’ Consortium for Critical Diversity in a Digital Age Research (CEDAR).    Musical attributions  1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows  2. Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170  3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

A continuation of the exploration of the 1920 Ocoee Massacre. The Ocoee Massacre occurred three years before the Rosewood Massacre and followed a massive Black voter registration and get-out-the-vote movement in Florida. The movement was perceived as a threat to those who wished to keep Black Americans subjugated and as a result, many Black Americans who participated in the movement, who voted or attempted to vote, were targeted in violent attacks. Adding to the tensions was the enfranchisement of women as they gained the right to vote the same year that the Ocoee Massacre occurred, which potentially increased the number of people who could vote against one-party rule in Florida and those who attempted and ultimately succeeded in quashing the Black voter movement.  Understanding the Black experience in Florida sheds light on how tragedies such as the Rosewood Massacre or the Ocoee Massacre could occur without any form of justice or recourse for the victims. Events such as the Ocoee and Rosewood Massacres were a product of the sociopolitical and economic conditions born out of racial hatred that created the space for the Massacres to occur.  Attacks on Blacks and Black communities prior to the Rosewood Massacre served as stress tests that gauged the boundaries intended to keep those conditions in check. Each racially motivated act of violence that victimized Black people and minorities that went unpunished, pushed those boundaries further and further apart while providing a wider opening for those conditions to take their place. The cause of the Rosewood Massacre is summed up in a nearly 100 page report following a state commissioned study, which characterized it as a "a tragedy of American democracy and the American legal system." In other words. Democracy and the American legal system failed the Rosewood victims. An analysis of the Ocoee Massacre in relation to the Rosewood Massacre in this context illuminates how widespread that failure of democracy and justice was for Black people at the time. In other words the Rosewood Massacre could occur - in part - because of the ability of the perpetrators of the Ocoee Massacre and dozens of other attacks on African Americans and Black communities to carry out those acts of terror with impunity. Guests in this episode include several descendants of Ocoee Massacre victim, July Perry: Sha’ron Cooley Mcwhite, Gladys Betty Franks Bell as well as her brother, Aaron Franks. Listeners will also hear from Michigan State University English Professor Julian Chambliss. Chambliss also has an appointment in History and the Val Berryman Curator of History at the MSU Museum at Michigan State University. In addition, he is a core participant in the MSU College of Arts & Letters’ Consortium for Critical Diversity in a Digital Age Research (CEDAR). Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2. 2 Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

Exactly 100 years ago, what is known as the bloodiest election day in American history left a grave and everlasting stain on Florida’s history. On Election Day 1920, a number of Black residents who lived in the town of Ocoee, Florida attempted to vote and were turned away. They included a man named Moses Norman who became very angry. Norman was one of the most prosperous Black men in the Orange County community. Some accounts suggest that Norman went to the home of his friend July Perry - another prominent Black entrepreneur in town, to tell Perry what happened. That evening, a mob of armed white men came to Perry’s home in search of Norman. Shooting broke out. Perry was captured and lynched. The mob turned its ire on Ocoee’s Black population. An unknown number of innocent African Americans were targeted and killed. Their homes and property were set on fire before burning to the ground. Most African Americans fled Ocoee and never to return. However, Ocoee is not the only place blood was spilled in Florida on Election Day of 1920. Beginning in 1919, a massive voter registration drive aimed at politically enfranchising Florida’s black community was underway. Many Blacks had planned to reap the fruits of their labor by casting their ballots on November 2nd of that year. Eventually, the voter registration movement spread to more than half of Florida's counties. Democrats - and particularly the Ku Klux Klan, became alarmed and viewed the movement as a threat to white supremacy in the south and launched their own repressive tactics to thwart the movement. That didn't stop thousands of African Americans from attempting to vote on November of that  Hundreds were turned away from the polls. Aside from Ocoee African Americans in Gadsden, Manatee and Liberty counties. In this episode, guests will hear an account of the Ocoee Massacre given by The Orlando Guy. Pamela Schwartz, Chief Curator of the Orange County Regional History Center will lend her expertise to help fill in some missing pieces to the puzzle of that tragic day. Musical attributions 1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2 Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

The predominantly African American Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was not the only so-called Black Wall Street in the early part of the 20th century.   There were a number of thriving Black communities in the early 1900’s. Some were also known by the moniker, Black Wall Street. These were communities that were very much made up of working people, which some say resembled middle-class prosperity. Some of America’s firs Black millionaires called these communities home. Though it was not uncommon to find Black Americans of different classes or income levels living in these communities together.  Nevertheless, creating such communities was no small feat for African Americans of this time. Segregation, Jim Crow, racism and corruption made it next too impossible for many black Americans to pull themselves out of poverty. Not to mention slavery was only abolished several decades prior. These communities began to take shape as the Black Americans became more politically engaged and economically mobile as a result of Reconstruction. However, an aggressive and often violent backlash to the improvement of the conditions of African Americans began to take hold in parts of the country, particularly the South. Unfortunately, wealthy, well-off, financially advantaged African Americans during this time often had targets on their backs. And because of that, many of these thriving black communities were destroyed and many people in them were killed. One of these communities includes the once-primarily Black, self-sufficient town of Rosewood Florida. What happened in Rosewood was a symptom of larger trends happening across the country, including but not limited to: the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan; a systemic effort to undo the gains Black people made as a result of Reconstruction through policy, discrimination and other aggressive measures; a rise in lynchings and massacres of Black communities; backlash against Black veterans who had recently returned from World War 1; the formation and growth of Black resistance to power structures; and efforts of Black Americans to assert their voting rights, the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Guests in this episode include Dr. Nashid Madyun who is the director of the Meek-Eaton Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum on FAMU’s campus. Madyun is also a distinguished publisher and researcher. Listeners will also hear recordings of a talk given by Dr. Paul Ortiz. Professor Ortiz is the director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida. He is also the author of a number of books, including Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920. Professor Ortiz teaches undergraduate courses and supervises graduate fields.  Musical attributions  1. Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows  2 Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170  3. Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1  

In order to understand how an incident such as the Rosewood Massacre could occur, it is important to understand the history of Africans and African Americans in Florida. In this episode St. Augustine Historical Society and University of North Florida Historian, Dr. Susan Parker, tackles the accuracy of how this history has been told by pointing out that, contrary to the popular belief that the year 1619 is the beginning of slavery in the what we know today as the U.S., as early as May 1616, blacks from the West Indies were working in Bermuda on the production of tobacco. Evidence suggests that scores of stolen Africans from the Spanish were aboard a fleet commanded by of Sir Francis Drake when he arrived at Roanoke Island in 1586. In 1526, enslaved Africans were part of a Spanish expedition to establish an outpost on the North American coast in present-day South Carolina. Dr. Susan Parker explains that this outpost was a short-lived Spanish settlement known as San Miguel de Gualdape lead by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon located probably on Sapelo Island, Ga., (near Darien). Dr. Parker takes a deep dive into the colonial history of Florida that was once under the ruled of Spain, France and Great Britain before becoming a territory of the U.S. in 1821. The treatment of Africans slaves and African American slaves varied by each colonial ruler. Nevertheless, Live as a slave in Florida was a brutal existence. Florida was the third state to secede from the Union and joined the South in a bid to form a slave republic. After the Union won the Civil War and slavery was abolished and Reconstruction ended, legislation was enacted to chip away at the gains African Americans made while Jim Crow acted as a form of terror and control that aimed to maintain the racial, social, political and economic norms established under slavery.  In this episode, listeners will also hear from a descendant of Rosewood Survivors, Angela Goins as well as Sherry Sherrod DuPree. Mrs. DuPree has worked with the Rosewood Heritage Foundation for many years. She is an author, historian, archivist as well as a former instructor and librarian at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College. Musical attributions 1.  Artist/Title: Axletree - Window Sparrows  Licenses: Attribution 4.0 International URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree/Ornamental_EP/Window_Sparrows 2 Artist/Title: Lobo Loco - Place on my Bonfire (ID 1170) Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Place_on_my_Bonfire_ID_1170 3.  Artist/Title: Youssoupha Sidibe - Xaleyi  Licenses: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US) URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Country?pageSize=20&page=1&sort=artist&d=1

An overview of this podcast and this season. Dreams of Black Wall Street examines the course of once-thriving predominantly Black communities that are both known by the moniker, Black Wall Street, as well as those that fit such a description. This was a period in which African Americans - only several generations removed from slavery - were on a quest for community and the promise of full citizenship. The right to be both politically engaged and at the very least try their hand at supporting themselves and their families while maintaining the right to seek out the proper means to do so. These communities are used as a glimpse into the Black experience of America during this era. While season 1 focused on the Tulsa Race Massacre in which the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Ok was destroyed, season 2 will focus on the once-primarily Black, rural, self-sufficient town of Rosewood, Florida. Rosewood was a bright spot of Black independence in Levy County Florida, that existed amid the dark shadows of the Jim Crow South. During the first week of January 1923, Rosewood became the site of a racially motivated massacre of a number of the town’s African American residents and the destruction of the rural hamlet. Accounts of the death toll vary, ranging between less than 10 people to more than 100. At the time, like incidents of a similar nature, the Rosewood Massacre was characterized as a race riot. Florida - and other parts of the country, especially the South, had been experiencing a particularly large number of lynchings of black men in the years leading up to the massacre. However, this isn’t just a story about the destruction of another Black community. It’s also about the decades long road to compensation. A long, complicated road fraught with emotional highs and lows that resulted in just a sliver of repayment for all that was lost in that tragedy.

For decades, a number of scholars and experts have been at the forefront of efforts to tell the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. During this time the tragedy remained largely unknown among most Americans. In recent years however, great strides have been made in the effort to bring more attention to the event and help those who would listen understand that the Massacre is emblematic of the Black experience in America at the time and is as much a part of American history as any other major national, historical event.  Much of what is known about the Massacre is due in part to the testimonies and eye witness accounts of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors and their family members. Hundreds of interviews detailing these accounts exist in large part because of the efforts of educator, historian and author, Eddie Faye Gates who recorded their experiences in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Many of these accounts and recordings have been made available to feature on this podcast thanks to the generosity of experts on the subject matter who have been documenting this history for years, including those who have worked with Mrs. Gates.  While this podcast tells the story of the events surrounding the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the story of the tragedy is still being written, in part by those who are invested in revitalizing the the district of Greenwood in the hopes that it might one day resemble some semblance of the thriving community once known as Black Wall Street.  Guests in this episode include Chair of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Matthews. Listeners will also hear recordings of a number of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors as well as educator, historian and author, Eddie Faye Gates.  Musical Attributions  1.Glueworm Evening Blues (ID 994) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyrite information. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Linked to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Glueworm_Blues_ID_994  2. Title: Driving to the Delta (ID 923) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copywite information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563 Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563  3. Spirit Inside (ID 819) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Tree_of_Meditation/Spirit_Inside_ID_819  4. African Moon by John Bartmann Link to license, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon  

In the nearly 100 In the years since the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Tulsa, particularly the Greenwood District, has undergone a considerable and slow transformation. Although Greenwood, experienced a regeneration between the 1920’s and 1950’s after the community was rebuilt following the Tulsa Race Massacre, that economic boom did not last. When legal segregation began to be dismantled in the 1950’s, blacks in Greenwood had more freedom to choose how and where they spent their money and many of them spent it outside of the community. Thus began Greenwood’s economic decline. This was exacerbated by several other factors, including redlining - practices that deny residents of certain areas services based on their race or ethnicity, as well as urban renewal - a set of federally financed policies aimed at rehabilitating cities of a city plagued by economic decline, which sometimes cause harm to residents in the targeted areas. Examples include the denial of mortgage loans, insurance and other financial services. This often occurs in minority communities. These factors along with others, have left many parts of present-day Greenwood in a state of economic despair. The city is still very much segregated.  The lack of opportunities for upward mobility many black Tulsans currently face has resulted in many African Americans in Tulsa experiencing a far lower quality of life and fewer opportunities, including the opportunity to own a home. Additionally, many Tulsans of various backgrounds believe that race relations continue to be strained. As a result a number of Tulsans with expertise in various fields are working to improve these areas of their community. Guests in this episode include Greenwood Cultural Center Program Coordinator & Tour Guide, Mechelle Brown, as well as preacher and home builder, Greg Taylor. Resources: 1. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TU013 2. https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/ 3. https://www.tulsa2021.org/ Musical Attributions 1.Glueworm Evening Blues (ID 994) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyrite information. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Linked to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Glueworm_Blues_ID_994 2.2. Title: Driving to the Delta (ID 923) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copywite information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563 Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563 3.3. Spirit Inside (ID 819) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Tree_of_Meditation/Spirit_Inside_ID_819 4.4. African Moon by John Bartmann Link to license, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon