Candice Tinnon
Staff Writer/MC301
Jackson State University held a grand opening of a brand-new exhibit spotlighting Black Wall Street in the College of Business building on Feb. 3.
Mac’Quinn Norris, a junior business management major from Lansing, Mich., Maney Darbey, a freshman psychology major from West Point, Miss. and Makyla Simmons, a freshman journalism and media studies major from Jackson, Miss., toured the exhibit and expressed how it made them feel.
“It’s makes me mad. It’s kind of infuriating. [Black] people were still being wrongly treated. Even during that, we were still able to overcome and build our self, our community, and our economy,” Norris said.
Norris also stated that he was shocked at the number of students who have never heard about Black Wall Street.
“It just shows that the education system is terrible. They always talk about slavery. Everybody knows about slavery. But people don’t know that during a very segregated time, we were able to build ourselves up, build business, support each other, gain wealth and make a good economy. If they could do it back then, with the rights we have now, it should be easy to do that now,” Norris said.
Darbey and Simmons toured the exhibit together and expressed what made them check it out.
“I’ve always had an interest in history. But, not only history, black history. And I feel like it’s important for us to know what we’re capable of and how we have always persevered. This Black Wall Street exhibit is an example of how we came from so little, built it, and was able to bounce back with so much,” said Darbey.
Simmons hopes knowledge of the successes achieved by African-Americans helps younger generations achieve more.
“I feel like it’s important as African-Americans to know as much as you can about your history,” said Simmons. “We had our own businesses. We had everything thriving for ourselves. We had a whole community like churches, our own schools, six private airplanes and for the white people to feel some type of jealousy and hatred towards us. They just burnt it down, killed our people. It’s just sad to see that.”
Darbey feels that the black community is still influential, but the sense of community that they had fifty years ago is not the same.
Zaniqua Bullock, the vice president of Student Government Association and chair of the Black History committee, said the exhibit was a learning experience for all students.
“This is something we can learn from. One of the questions I asked on the floor is, ‘Do people really think this is possible to happen again? Is it feasible?’ Many people said no because of things like complacency, our current economy, and our current state in America with the president [Trump]. But, when you look at this, this happened immediately after World War 1,” said Bullock.
Bullock continued, “They still weren’t the most popular people in America. But they still made it happen. So, with examples like this, it just kind of makes you think. We can make this happen again. So, I think its inspiration.”
Bullock expressed how happy she is with the recent growth of black-owned businesses.
“I think it’s [black-owned businesses] amazing! But, if the support of black owned businesses could increase as well, then we’ll have us a show,” she said.
The Black Wall Street exhibit is just one of the many Black History Month events taking place in February.
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