- What you really want to see is Black Wall Street.

You want to see the Greenwood District

thriving with hundreds of Black-owned businesses

lining the streets of Greenwood.

However, much of the property today

does not belong to African Americans.

- It's a gift to be able to say

you come from such amazing people,

and that you're on the grounds of what used to be

something the world had never seen before.

I've always felt a connection to Black Wall Street

and to rebirth it.

- [Narrator] The Tulsa Massacre of 1921

destroyed nearly 200 businesses

in the area that came to be known as Black Wall Street.

Now, entrepreneurs and activists

are pushing to carry on its legacy.

They're advocating for more Black-owned businesses

and property ownership, amid gentrification

that's reshaping the historic Black neighborhood.

The Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma

was once a center of Black wealth

in the early 20th century.

Located north of railroad tracks

that divided Tulsa during segregation,

it was home to thousands

of Black Tulsans and their businesses.

But 1921, white mobs attacked the district

killing dozens of Black residents

and destroying about 35 square blocks

over the course of one night.

Researchers say the damages filed in court cases decades ago

total over 22 million in today's dollars.

But this likely underestimates the actual losses,

as not everyone had full insurance coverage,

or went to court.

After the massacre, Black entrepreneurs

worked to rebuild Greenwood.

But local historians say the district went through a decline

as desegregation led to outward migration,

and urban renewal programs

displaced Black-owned businesses and residents.

Today, Greenwood consists of about four city blocks.

There's not much housing stock in the neighborhood,

and just over two dozen Black-owned

or operated businesses remain registered

with the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce.

- The Historic Greenwood Chamber of Commerce

owns the last 10 buildings known as Black Wall Street.

We house 33 businesses.

31 of them are African American.

So we're still doing what our ancestors did.

It might not be Black Wall Street,

but it's definitely a Black Main Street.

And so we have to preserve this.

- [Narrator] While there's a growing number

of Black-owned businesses in this district,

some of the newer establishments are tenants

in buildings owned by white developers.

That's a reversal of fortune from 100 years ago

when many of the property owners were Black.

The massacre destroyed real estate assets

that could have been passed to future generations.

- Our oldest living survivor, Daddy Clark,

died at 109 years old.

He was a teenager.

His photograph is on exhibit in the gallery

- [Narrator] Tulsa residents like Mechelle Brown-Burdex,

say it's important to keep telling the story

of how prosperous Black residents of Greenwood were

before it's decline.

- We were never taught that African-Americans

were business owners,

that they were pilots,

and electricians, and doctors, and attorneys.

And I was shocked that we had never learned about this.

Being born in Tulsa, being raised in Tulsa,

attending Black history classes.

- [Narrator] Brown-Burdex coordinates educational programs

and tours for the Greenwood Cultural Center.

- We thought that this was the perfect time

in the spirit of Black Wall Street

to identify and promote Black-owned businesses

in our community.

- [Narrator] As the city commemorates

the centennial of the massacre,

Brown-Burdex has teamed up with a local co-working space

and incubator to create a guide

of Black-owned businesses in the area.

- When we first began this work,

many people were opposed to us

even acknowledging or recognizing the history

of Black Wall Street or of the massacre.

Now, as we approach the commemoration,

there is much more support.

- [Narrator] It's clear things are changing again

in the Greenwood neighborhood.

A different museum called Greenwood Rising

is among the construction projects

redefining the look of the area.

- It's a challenge because some of our work is quite similar

but we are finding ways that we can compliment one another

as opposed to competing with one another.

- [Narrator] Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Matthews,

who heads the commission overseeing Greenwood Rising,

says the museum is working with organizations

throughout the Historic District

to tell the neighborhood story in cooperative ways.

Still, Brown-Burdex says her vision for Greenwood

remains the same.

- Personally, I would love to see more

Black-owned businesses in the Greenwood district.

I would love to see home ownership increase in this area.

- [Narrator] After being displaced by urban renewal projects

decades ago, many Black Tulsans

now live in the city's north side.

- Mm-hm.

This is my home, this is neighborhood I grew up in.

- [Narrator] Tyrance Billingsley II, a tech entrepreneur,

recently learned about his family's ties

to the rebirth of Greenwood in the 1930s.

- What I know is little, but I do know that

my direct descendants were cousins of people

who helped donate to Vernon A.M.E. Church

and help rebuild it.

- [Narrator] Billingsley is now looking to carry on

the spirit of Greenwood in his own way.

- The actual district of Greenwood,

obviously it's being heavily gentrified.

I like to think of Greenwood as two different things.

The body is the land in and of itself.

And then there's the spirit, or the breath.

The breath of Greenwood is the spirit

that Black entrepreneurship,

the sense of community,

the breath of Greenwood is very much still alive.

- [Narrator] Billingsley is spearheading a project

he hopes will bring opportunities for today's Black Tulsans

to create the kind of generational wealth

seen decades ago on Black Wall Street.

- Block Tech Street is an initiative

to rebirth Black Wall Street as the premier Black tech hub

here in Tulsa.

- [Narrator] Currently in its beginning stages,

one aim of the project is to weave coding

and other applicable skills into afterschool programs

for Black children.

Billingsley says he has about $1 million

in verbal commitments,

and is working with partners to fundraise.

- We have a goal of facilitating $1 billion

worth of investment in this community

over the next 10 years,

you know, around six strategic pillars.

Entrepreneur support, narrative and communications,

capital, workforce, infrastructure, and policy.

- [Narrator] Other Black entrepreneurs are interested in

rebuilding wealth in this area,

but some Black Tulsans say the city must do a better job

in reconciling with its past

to protect the area's Black institutions and businesses.

- I want it to be so that an endowment is set up

so that these buildings are maintained,

and that economic development can be fostered.

- Hopefully, undoubtedly, we will have a conversation.

We will see some type of real reparations take place.

Black Wall Street as it was in 1921,

prior to the massacre and, as it was once it was rebuilt

in the 30s and 40s and 50s may never be again.

But Black Wall Street is an idea.

I appreciate the businesses that are here

in the Greenwood District.

And then we have the Greenwood Cultural Center.

We remain here telling the story.

We are actually looking forward to the next 100 years.

(emotional music)