After thousands of people visited the Historic Greenwood District for the Black Wall Street Rally, some business owners praised the surge in tourism while others questioned if the event benefits everyone equally.
The amount of foot traffic during the mid-May festival was a far cry from the average, according to Isaiah Harris, co-owner of Black Wall Street Tees & Souvenirs.
He said on a normal day his store sees between 18 and 30 people, but during the rally he saw hundreds. Second to Juneteenth, the rally weekend is their most profitable.
“Just about the whole entire day was actually packed throughout the whole entire event,” Harris said. “Even Sunday when (a) majority of the bikers were leaving, there were still a lot of people that were still here that came in Sunday and wiped us out again.”
Black Wall Street Tees sits on the corner across from Greenwood Rising. Down the road is Black Wall Street Bodega, whose owner, Angela Robinson, didn’t reap quite the same benefits..
“I’m pretty sure the restaurants benefited, which is amazing. The people at the BMX stadium benefited, the people that set up the stage equipment benefited, but the small Black businesses like myself, not so much,” she said.
Robinson has owned her bodega for six years, selling authentic African attire, drinks, snacks and art work. She said the only time she’s made a sizable profit was during the rally’s first year in 2022. Otherwise she says it’s been marginal.
She said when vendors come from outside of Tulsa and pay for a booth fee they underbid the businesses that are there year round, which hinders owners like herself.
Robinson also said in the future she hopes more is done to alleviate congestion in the area.
“I think the event is great, but it needs to be done differently. It needs to have more police control, (there) needs to be designated areas. We need the sidewalk, (to) only be for walking, not posting up, because people couldn’t get in my store,” she said.
She described the rally as a missed opportunity for her because there’s a small window for businesses like hers to make large profits, which she says is during the summer months when people travel.
Both she and Harris said in order to sustain themselves during the other months of the year they have to plan months in advance for bigger events to make sure they maximize the impact.
Rally organizer Brandon Jackson told The Eagle he hears the feedback and moving forward he’ll consider creating a directory for the existing businesses.
“The event is designed to promote and engage the permanent residents and the visiting vendors,” Jackson said. “(But) they have to be prepared to seize the moment when you have that many people at your doorstep.”
He said restaurants like Sweet Lisa’s and Fixins Soul Kitchen — which had a line out the door almost all weekend — saw a huge economic impact from the event. He’s also received emails from business owners thanking him for helping organize the rally.
Robinson said now she’s looking forward to the Juneteenth festival next month where she said she usually has a better showing.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
