When people hear the phrase “Black Wall Street,” many think first of Greenwood, Okla., the once-thriving Black economic hub destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
For a growing network of Black entrepreneurs in Houston and beyond, however, Black Wall Street is not only history. It serves as an active blueprint for collective economic power and survival in a system that has long denied Black communities equal access to capital and opportunities.
Today’s movement
Founded in 2015, the modern Black Wall Street movement was built on the idea of collaboration over competition, said Martel Matthews, co-founder and chief operating officer. Drawing inspiration directly from Greenwood, the founders envisioned a digital ecosystem where Black business owners could share resources and scale, especially as commerce increasingly moved online.
“We had that same passion and wanted to connect us as business owners across the Black diaspora,” Matthews said. “We saw the world moving, with the internet, social media, Instagram, TikTok.”
Black entrepreneurs, Matthews said, often start with less capital, fewer connections, and limited generational business knowledge — barriers rooted in decades of exclusion. That lack of access remains one of the primary reasons Black Wall Street remains significant today. Creating a space explicitly designed to counter those disadvantages is about not exclusion, he said, but equity.
Frank Perkins II, CEO and co-founder of Black Wall Street, traces that mission to his own experience in trying to locate minority-owned vendors while working in government contracting. At the time, Black businesses were largely invisible in traditional Chambers of Commerce. Rather than accept that gap, Perkins helped build a platform to close it. “We wanna circulate our dollars in our community,” Perkins said. “Not only does it help the business owner, but it helps the infrastructure, provides tools and knowledge for our kids [who] are going up behind us, and provides jobs.”
That emphasis on sustainability surfaced repeatedly throughout Black Wall Street’s 10th anniversary Legacy Weekend in Houston recently. Speakers described entrepreneurship as more than a hustle culture, but as a long-term strategy for generational wealth and self-determination.
Unity in the movement
For Donna Marshall Payne, a committee member often referred to as “Auntie,” the value of Black Wall Street lies in unity. She views it as a platform that brings together fragmented resources, such as mentorship and financing, so entrepreneurs do not have to navigate those systems alone.
“When you do things together, you get more done,” said Marshall Payne. “The Black Wall Street is about unity — unification of entrepreneurs all over the world.”
That collective approach also addresses a less visible cost of entrepreneurship: burnout. Dr. Danielle Griffin, an educator and business owner with multiple ventures, noted that many Black entrepreneurs enter business driven by a desire to serve, but often lack the necessary structures to protect their health, finances, and families.
“Oftentimes, that’s how we got into business — wanting to help and serve others,” Griffin said, “but we’re training ourselves, stressing ourselves out, running outta money; we’re burnt out, working multiple jobs, taking care of families, causing ourselves to have health problems. A lot of people want to get out of that cycle.”
Legacy, a recurring theme in the movement, is defined as assets and information passed forward. Matthews described legacy as ownership and preparedness, shaped by his own experience in losing his mother and realizing how little financial planning had been done.
“One of the main challenges you face as a Black-owned business is imposter syndrome,” he added. “You may be the first one in your generation to have the bold strength to step out on faith in God, to create something out of thin air. You walk into rooms, you don’t always feel as confident because maybe it wasn’t passed down to you from your mother, or from your grandmother, or from your dad, so, Black businessowners need other people in other communities [who] can help us stand tall and stand strong and prosper and get from being a small business to a medium business to a large business.”
Entrepreneurs like Marcus Bowers, co-founder of Black Wall Street and owner of She’s Happy Hair, framed Black Wall Street as a bridge between traditional business models and the digital economy. Bowers credits his success, which has generated more than $100 million in revenue from various industries, to his understanding of data, forecasting, and online reach.
“You gotta change your mindset,” Bowers said. “A lot of people have the mindset of doing it for the money — they wake up and go get the bag, whereas an entrepreneur, you gotta start doing it for the data, too, because the only way that you’re gonna make the most money ever is by having some data to talk to people [who are] not in front of you. Billionaires get billions of dollars, not because they’re talking to a billion people on Earth in front of them. They’re talking to a billion people online, and they’re sending a lot of emails and messages. Always be talking to your customers.”
Future of the movement
While the movement initially began online, its future will also involve physical spaces. Leaders announced plans to open a Black Wall Street hub in Houston — a dedicated location for business networking and community access.
That physical presence, organizers said, represents more than expansion. It signals permanence.
“In today’s context, the last 10 years, we’ve grown a large digital landscape,” Perkins said. “We’ve helped over a thousand businesses grow online through social media channels and impacted the community with knowledge and tools on how to use AI. These 10 years are just now the starting point, because now we’re going to our nonprofit foundation phase and we have people joining our committees and our board to give even more back, not just here in Houston, but all over the U.S.”