By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last weekend, Africatown kicked off its Summer of Soul Series Celebrations with its Black Wall Street Festival, where over 100 businesses came together in the spirit of the Black community, Black businesses, and Black entrepreneurship.
The event, which took place on Jackson Street between 23rd Ave. and MLK Jr Way, featured arts, crafts, food, children’s games, and music provided by Thirdlevel Entertainment.
As you walked the corridor, the smell of barbeque, Polish sausages, Latin cuisine, health and wellness organic scents, candles, and incense aromas permeated the air. The sounds of children running and screaming with joy gave visitors a true sense of what the Black community is capable of in supporting business and community unity.
“The sun was out, it was a beautiful day to support Black business and entrepreneurship,” says Anthony Tibbs of Thirdlevel Entertainment. “Black business owners, families, and children—it was a good look for the Black community.”
Businesses ranging from free dental care to jewelry and art vendors, apparel vendors, and more celebrated and collaborated under the sun.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the festival,” says Mikia. “We need more events such as this. This is what is missing in our community. We may not have a Black neighborhood, in the traditional sense, in the CD any longer, but we do have a Black community, and it was great to see my people commemorating the idea of Black Wall Street here in the Seattle area.”
“I’m glad we are taking back the block,” says Tibbs. “I know that we just announced that the old Starbucks location on the corner of 23rd and Jackson will be taken over by a Black coffee company, so we are moving in the right direction.”
No matter where they are from, who they are, their economic circumstances, or educational backgrounds, significant majorities of Black Americans say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves, and that the community is central to how they interact and prosper, with about three-quarters (76%) overall saying so.
A significant share of Black Americans also say that when something happens to Black people in their local communities, across the nation, or around the globe, it affects what happens in their own lives, highlighting a sense of connectedness. Black Americans say this even as they have diverse experiences and come from an array of backgrounds.
Festivals such as Black Wall Street are a prime example of that identity. Providing Black people from around the Puget Sound region solutions such as festivals is a means to continue African American pride and unity even against the backdrop of systemic racism’s gentrification efforts that have dispersed Black communities that once occupied the center of Seattle.
“It has been difficult to see the changes in our community, the way our people were dispersed due to gentrification and the destruction of our neighborhoods,” says Mikia. “We must not give up on our unity, and although we may be displaced all across the region, through events such as this one, it just goes to show that there are some folks out here doing their part to maintain Black cohesiveness.”
