CLASS OVERVIEW

Earn about O. W. Gurley and how he established the Greenwood district of Tulsa Oklahoma and eztab8 Black Wall Street.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:

• Please check the materials that go with this lesson and print relevant materials.
• Also, check out the books and products the teachers use for further learning.
• Reach out to support@urbanintellectuals.com if you have any questions or issues.
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Sources: 

https://youtu.be/vzQ_lcCaBvk?si=H-oGR362yE_tcX4A 

https://fb.watch/n9JrDCAuwE/

      OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma was a territory before it was a state. Because it was a territory, many African Americans felt that it was a safe place to live and so many people came to Oklahoma.
Only 33 days after Oklahoma became a state, it began to institute Jim Crow laws from the South, promoting segregation in all areas.

      OTTAWAY W. GURLEY

Ottawa W. Gurley was born on December 25th 1867 in Huntsville, Alabama.
His father was John and his mother was Roseanne Gurley who were formally enslaved.
After public school and self-education, Gurley worked as a teacher and in the postal service.
While living in Pine Bluff, he married Emma Wells in 1889.
In 1893 Oklahoma began the Land Run.
The Young entrepreneur had just resigned from an appointment under President Grover Cleveland in order to strike out on his own. So, he and his wife moved to Perry, Oklahoma where he ran for treasurer of Noble County at first but later became the principal at the Town School and eventually started and operated a general store for 10 years.
In 1905, Gurley sold his store and land in Perry, and moved his wife Emma to the oil boom town of Tulsa, where he purchased 40 acres of land which was only to be sold to “Coloreds.”
After Oklahoma became a state and the Jim Crow system of legally enforcing segregation began blacks were relegated to live in separate areas. However, Oklahoma was considered a significant economic and social opportunity by Gurley. At this point Oklahoma was among the highest of any state or territory establishing black towns.
Among Gurley’s first businesses was a rooming house which was located on a dusty trail near the railroad tracks. This road was given the name Greenwood Avenue, named for a city in Mississippi.
The area became very popular among Black migrants fleeing the oppressions of Mississippi. They would find refuge in Gurley’s building as racial persecution from the south was non-existent on Greenwood Avenue which was named Black Wall Street by Booker T. Washington as it catered to upwardly mobile Black people. Gurley also provided monetary loans to Black people wanting to start their own businesses.
Gurley also bought 80 more acres and built three two-story buildings and five residences. He helped founded what is now Vernon AME Church. He also helped build a Masonic Lodge and an employment agency.

Answers to the quiz.

1. Africa is the WEALTHIEST CONTINENT on Earth.
   2. And 10:37 AD, King Tenkamenin of Ghana fed 10,000 PEOPLE each and every day and there was NO poverty in the land.
   3. Before and after enslavement, there were 88 to 200 Black Towns.
   4. The first black town was Established in 1836.
   5. What relative, SON, of Frederick Douglas established highland Beach on the Chesapeake Bay.
   6. DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, had a prominent Black economic base on Parrish Street.
   7. What business was the start of the strong Black economic base Durham, North Carolina, NORTH CAROLINA MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE, and what year was it founded in 1898.

CLASS OVERVIEW

Have a Mind Change about Black Wealth, then learn about early towns and communities founded  by African Americans.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:

• Please check the materials that go with this lesson and print relevant materials.
• Also, check out the books and products the teachers use for further learning.
• Reach out to support@urbanintellectuals.com if you have any questions or issues.
• Some links may be affiliate links where we may earn a small commission from purchases.

1. We need to readjust our thinking about wealth and thriving communities.
We have always been a people who have had wealth. Africa is the wealthiest continent on the face of the earth.

2. Egypt known as Kemet, in Alkebulan, known as Africa, was full of wealth and knowledge.

3. From 711AD – 1492AD, the Moors bought their wealth of knowledge to Portugal and Spain.

4. In 1037 AD, there was no poverty in the land of Ghana ruled by King Tenkemenin. 10,000 people were fed every day and the people had education and purpose.

5. Mansa Musa of Mali in the 1300 AD was and still is the richest man who ever lived.

6. The Songhai Empire in 1400 AD expanded and was a thriving empire with universities and trading of salt, gold, copper, cotton, leather, silk, books and knowledge.

7. Before and after enslavement there were 88 to 200 towns established by black people.

8. The first black town in the United States was created in 1836 when Free Frank McWhorter, an ex- Kentucky slave, who founded the community of New Philadelphia, Illinois. He and his wife were able to buy their freedom and 14 other family members. They acquired land and sold it to African Americans and European families who were attracted to the vision of the community dedicated to freedom. They helped on the Underground Railroad. When the real railroad did not come through their town, it ended.

9. More town emerged in the first years after the Civil War. There were two other towns during reconstruction in Texas which had the greatest amount of communities. One was Shankleville in 1867 and Kendleton in 1870 these communities population by ex-slaves from surrounding countryside, arose from the desire of free people to own land without interference.

10. Frederick Douglass’s son Charles Douglas purchased 40 acres of land and name it HighLand Beach and sold land to African Americans after he was shunned at a restaurant in Chesapeake. He built two beautiful homes one for himself and his family and the other one for Frederick Douglas. Frederick Douglas did not live to stay in the home, or look across the Chesapeake and see where he had been enslaved and now was a free and highly respected man as Charles had hoped he would.
Highland Beach was incorporated in 1922 and still exist today with 60 homes and a few remaining African American year round residents.

11. The first Black Wall Street was established in Durham North Carolina in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is located on Parrish Street and is the home of the Mechanics and Farmers Bank and North Carolina mutual Life insurance company which was founded on August 22, 1898 by local black social leaders. Harold R. Davis, 97, former Chief Operations Officer of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, informed the class that the North Carolina Mutual was started by a group of men in a barber shop. Another class member who resides in Durham, North Carolina, stated Parrish Street had restaurants; barber shops; beauty parlors; libraries; the bank and many other black-owned businesses. Parrish Street is now a part of downtown Durham, North Carolina and remains a business district with many black businesses.

Take aways:
We have always had wealth as a people.

Before and after enslavement ended, African American formed 88 – 200 communities.

Thriving communities have one thing in common, purpose.

How can you bring purpose to your community?

1. Tenkamenin – collective responsibility
2. Sundiata – Always know you can
3. Mansa Musa – Take the Journey with Faith
4. Harriet Chapman – keep going 
5. Frederick Douglass – Speak Truth to power
6. Marcus Garvey – Rise You Mighty People
7. Malcolm X – By Any Means Necessary 
8. Dr. Martin L. King – We Shall Overcome

CLASS OVERVIEW

Learn about the lessons leaders have taught us through their lives.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:

• Please check the materials that go with this lesson and print relevant materials.

• Also, check out the books and products the teachers use for further learning.

• Reach out to support@urbanintellectuals.com if you have any questions or issues.
• Some links may be affiliate links where we may earn a small commission from purchases.

Sources :

Marcus Garvey – https://youtu.be/bpsKWGIZIhw?si=dExdOkN8Gfqy7ETU

What can we learn from each Leader?

Sundiata – Always know you can

Mansa Musa – Take the Journey with Faith

MA’AT –  Be Disciplined 

Amanirenas – Be Fearless

Imhotep – Be Outstanding

Hatshepsut – Be Yourself

Makeda – Be Prepared