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SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Sacramento’s Black Wall Street: The creation of Florin Square
Thomas Donaldson, originally from Pennsylvania, moved to California with a dream. He soon landed a job in a machine shop at the Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County.
“I said dear Lord, I want to come to California and I want to be a machinist,” said Donaldson. “By trade, I’m a manufacturing engineer. I love to build things. I made the best of Beale, and I went on to graduate from Yuba College.”
He took a leap of faith for the second time and left Yuba County for San Jose. He decided to pursue a career in real estate. While there, Donaldson built a name for himself as a Black entrepreneur, but he wanted more out of life.
Years later, Donaldson moved for the last time from San Jose to the greater Sacramento region. He started a new job at Aerojet working as a manufacturing engineer. Despite being in a new market, he still focused on real estate.
“The first thing I did was buy an apartment complex,” Donaldson said. “I realized that’s really what I wanted to do, I wanted to work at Aerojet and rent an apartment complex. Then, I realized — later in life — that an apartment complex is a lot more intensive than running a commercial venture.”
Donaldson soon found a higher purpose in life. He wanted to help other Black entrepreneurs thrive, so he purchased a 74,500-square-foot building in 2003 on Florin Road in the heart of South Sacramento. He called it the Florin Square Shopping Center. The plan was to turn the old office complex into a new shopping center with Black businesses, retailers and nonprofits.
“Many people have the desires and aspirations to go into business for themselves, but they lack a physical place to set up,” Donaldson said. “My thought was very simple. If I provide a clean, safe environment for people to fulfill their dreams, it’s a win-win situation.”
After purchasing the building, Donaldson needed help getting the word out to the public about the new business spaces available for new and experienced entrepreneurs. He turned to Aaron Boyce for guidance in promotional marketing.
Boyce was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to California for a better life, just like Donaldson. Boyce had a passion for connecting people and places to make the world better. Once he landed in Sacramento, Boyce developed a career in marketing. He built a large rolodex over time, networking with everyone in all communities.
Boyce worked in radio, magazines, and an employment training agency. He also authored two books and provided mentorship to the youth. Boyce eventually became known as Sacramento’s ‘Ambassador of Information.’ For Boyce, the journey to success “ain’t been no crystal stair.”
“I had a single mom and I was a child of welfare,” Boyce said. “I’ve had a stutter since I was nine. I had issues as a kid, but I was able to rise above those issues. My mom always told me, ‘Whatever you want to do, do it.’ And so I did.”
Together, Donaldson and Boyce turned Florin Square into an opportunity for Black people and others in historically marginalized communities to become successful in business and life.
Now, Florin Square is home to more than 200 businesses, retail stores and nonprofits – 100% owned by people of color and 90% owned by Black people.
“We help those who need help,” Boyce said. “We do catch dreams and visions. We do catch integrity and legacy and all those great things at Florin Square. People are coming to us because they see something special. They come and they make it even better. It matters because it shows what we can do.”
Florin Square operates like a mall, encouraging shoppers to buy Black. It’s all about keeping Black dollars in Black communities. Florin Square holds public events each month, like the African Marketplace and Second Saturday, to spotlight hundreds of Black vendors and their products and services.
“Economics is the engine that fuels us all,” Donaldson said. “If the dollar does not stay in the community, then the community dies. A healthy community is one that supports one another. We fund each other.”
The entrepreneur journey can be tough for anyone, filled with unexpected twists and turns, but it’s not equal for all. Black small business owners face more obstacles than their white counterparts.
There were more than 32 million small businesses in the U.S. in 2021, according to the latest report from the U.S. Small Business Administration. It shows there were about 3 million Black-owned businesses compared to about 25 million businesses owned by White people.
A 2021 report by the Committee on Small Business shows Black business ownership rates dropped 41% between February and April 2020 in the U.S. — the largest rate of any racial group. Historically, Black entrepreneurs face systemic barriers to success like the lack of access to capital, little to no mentorship relationships, and a general lack of business opportunity.
These historic inequalities were exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. According to the same report, “Black-owned businesses were less equipped to handle mandated closures, more likely to be located in areas with high volumes of COVID cases and had less access to relief.”
In a press release, Nydia M. Velázquez, Chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, said, “Since the beginning of this pandemic, the virus has hit the Black community and Black business owners disproportionately hard.” She said her committee has worked to expand access to relief for businesses by empowering community and mission-based lenders.
The report goes on to recommend policy goals to Congress that would help level the playing field for Black small business owners including: increasing financial resources, providing more funding for Black small business counseling and training outreach, and enhancing government contracting opportunities.
Despite the COVID pandemic, along with other systemic challenges faced primarily by Black entrepreneurs, Florin Square is still standing strong. During the pandemic, the center was able to secure new and additional clients. It was all about helping small businesses stay afloat amid closings, financial hardships and uncertain times.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the entrepreneurs who would normally go to a state fair or county fair came to us to display their products and services,” said Donaldson. “We’ve been able to, for the last two years, survive. We’ve been able to bring in those vendors who would not normally have a place to go for the last couple of years. And, as a community, we were able to support others.”
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Today, Florin Square is “Sacramento’s Black Wall Street.” It’s a living descendant of one of the most prosperous Black communities in the U.S. — the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The history of “Black Wall Streets” emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the U.S. remains largely untold. These communities were born in the shadow of slavery, and fueled by legalized racial segregation and overt racism.
Black people were forced to create their own society and economy for survival. These communities, referred to as Black Wall Streets, were filled with Black businesses, products and services.
That includes, but is not limited to; schools, hospitals, public libraries, hotels, parks, theaters, barber shops and salons, clothing stores, shoeshine shops, jewelers, restaurants, taverns, pool halls, grocery stores, nightclubs and more. There were also offices for Black doctors, dentists and lawyers. Black Wall Streets had it all.
Some historic Black Wall Streets and business districts included Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia; Hayti district in Durham, North Carolina; and Fourth Avenue district in Birmingham, Alabama, just to name a few.
Like many others, Donaldson and Boyce never learned about Black Wall Streets or successful Black entrepreneurs in school. Instead, they relied on teachings from family and self-education.
“It’s a piece of history that doesn’t get taught in the schools,” said Boyce. “I knew about it when I was a teenager because my mom had me read other stuff that the schools wouldn’t give us. We didn’t call ourselves Sacramento’s Black Wall Street, other people did. That is a huge sense of pride.”
According to a 2015 study by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and Oberg Research, the U.S. education system has failed in providing rich lessons on the Black experience in America. It shows, on average, only 8% or 9% of history class time is devoted to Black history and some states neglect the subject altogether.
A 2022 poll by Quinnipiac University also shows more needs to be done in classrooms regarding history lessons. Researchers surveyed more than 1,300 adults nationwide. Findings showed 27% of Americans say the American History they were taught in school reflected a full and accurate account of the role of African Americans in the U.S., while 66% say what they were taught in school fell short on that.
“Removed from the classroom, two-thirds of Americans look back and say they were not taught enough about the struggles and the triumphs of African Americans,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst, Tim Malloy. “Nearly 4 in 10 Americans acknowledge the troubling suspicion that someone they know, and perhaps even someone they love, harbors a deeply disturbing prejudice.”
As a historian, Hannibal B. Johnson works to educate the public on Black people and their many valuable contributions to society. He’s authored at least 10 books about Black history and culture, primarily focusing on stories of America’s Black Wall Streets.
In his latest book, “Black Wall Street 100: An American City Grapples with its Historical Racial Trauma,” Johnson shares how the Black entrepreneurial spirit can be traced back to the creation of the Greenwood District in Tulsa in 1906.
“Our history is something that we have to understand,” said Johnson. “Tulsa, like many communities throughout the United States, was segregated by law. The communities, the Black community, the white community were literally separated by the Frisco railroad tracks. Black folks lived north of the tracks, created their own community, which included an economy on Black Wall Street or in the Greenwood District.”
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, the population in Greenwood reached 11,000 by 1920. It mostly included manual laborers and hospitality workers. The economy began to quickly grow due in part to Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Pushed out by white society and businesses, Black people and their families kept their money circulating only in the Greenwood District.
Greenwood attracted nationally renowned African American leaders and activists, such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Booker T. Washington is credited with labeling the Greenwood District the ‘Negro Wall Street of America,’ which later morphed into ‘Black Wall Street.’
Greenwood changed forever in 1921. On the morning of May 30, a Black teenager named Dick Rowland got onto an elevator in the Drexel Building in downtown Tulsa. A white teenager named Sarah Page was the elevator operator.
What exactly happened next remains unclear. Some historians say Rowland may have accidentally stepped on Page’s foot, or he probably tripped and bumped into her.
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, when the elevator reached the first floor, a clerk heard Page scream and saw Rowland run out of the building. The clerk reported the incident to the police.
Tulsa police arrested Rowland the next morning after the Tulsa World put out a report about the elevator incident. Even though the Tulsa World and the Tulsa Tribune were considered major newspapers in the city, the media coverage of Black people and their communities were little to none. When the local papers did include Black people in reports, the media used prejudicial stereotypes and inaccurate information.
After the Tulsa World released a morning edition, the Tulsa Tribune learned of the incident. The afternoon paper published an inflammatory report, inciting violence. The headline on the front page article read “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator.”
“It was essentially a call to action and a call to arms to the white community,” Johnson said. “So, a large white mob gathered. The white mob numbered ultimately in the thousands. There was talk of seizing Dick Rowland from the jail and lynching him. Black men got word of this lynch talk and they were concerned. So, several dozen Black men marched down to the courthouse.”
Johnson goes on to explain that a “white man tried to take the gun that one of the Black men was holding. The gun discharged, and in the words of one of the survivors of the massacre, ‘All hell broke loose’ after that.”
Thousands of armed white rioters invaded Greenwood. They murdered Black people, looted businesses and left 35 city blocks in charred ruins. More than 1,400 homes and businesses were burned, and nearly 10,000 people were left homeless. The Tulsa Race Massacre began May 31 and ended June 1.
Historians believe as many as 300 people may have died, most of them Black people, making it the deadliest race-based massacre in the nation’s history. Not one of the white perpetrators was ever arrested or convicted of a crime.
“When I think of Greenwood, what really hurts me more than anything, is the fact that the people who built it, built it from a dream,” said Donaldson. “They had a desire to improve their life, and it didn’t take a whole lot to have the jealousy and the envy of the outside world put a spark to it.”
Despite structural racism, white supremacy and hate, the spirit of Black Wall Streets remain unbreakable. Black Tulsans were able to recover and rebuild Greenwood. By 1942, the district boasted 242 Black-owned and Black-operated business establishments.
Just like other Black Wall Streets and thriving Black communities, Greenwood began to decline over the years, partially due to integration and urban renewal. Few businesses remained at the end of the 20th century.
“Segregation really is the basis on which the community was built,” said Johnson. “It existed because it had to. Black dollars were essentially trapped in the community because of segregation. When the community becomes integrated, it allows dollars to flow outside the community.”
Johnson goes on to explain that “urban renewal was a federal program designed ostensibly to get rid of dilapidated properties and so forth. Greenwood became a target for urban renewal. The federal government bought some of the properties and located an interstate highway right through what was the heart of the Greenwood community. It was a disconnecting event for the community. It prevented businesses from really becoming resurgent.”
Now, the Greenwood Cultural Center acts as the new modern-day Greenwood District. It’s a multipurpose educational arts and humanities complex promoting history, culture and positive race relations.
The Black entrepreneurial spirit lives on from the Greenwood District in Tulsa to the Florin Square Shopping Center in South Sacramento. Together, Donaldson and Boyce are working to grow Florin Square as a space for Black entrepreneurs to thrive. The center has about 95 offices with 65 tenants.
“I love the fact that every one of the tenants, they care about each other’s success,” said Boyce. “If one had a need, it may be just physical, like bringing in a box that might be too heavy or offering advice on how to improve on the business… people who have been here for a long time, they help those who are brand new.”
The new goal is to add another 10,000 square feet to the complex in the coming weeks, providing 40 new offices for Black entrepreneurs, organizations and businesspeople.
“I think we are a microcosm of the Black Wall Street in Tulsa,” Donaldson said. “There was a spirit there that grew. We want Florin Square to still be a beacon of success, collaboration, networking and family for all to come. South Sacramento is not a place to be afraid of. It’s a place where people who live here understand that we can thrive. We are thriving and we will build and make things better.”
For Betty Davis, entrepreneurship began with love.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without my husband,” said Davis. “He’s been my backbone and my everything. He’s just been there for me ever since we started this business.”
Lee and Betty Davis got married in 1972. The couple traveled to Africa the same year. While there, they collected African goods and products. When the Davis’ returned home, people began asking about some of the products.
Together, the Davis’ found a need in Black communities and filled it. They started buying rare, Black collectibles at trade shows to re-sell to the public.
“We brought stuff home with us from our trip,” said Davis. “People kept saying, ‘Well, can you get me that or get me this?’ Eventually, we got to the point where my husband said, ‘We need to get rid of this. I’m tired of people coming to the house. So, let’s do something.'”
In 1992, the Davis’ opened Culture Collection at the Florin Mall in Sacramento. It was the first Black-owned and operated gift store in the mall. The gift shop offered hard to find items highlighting Black people, art and culture.
“We have quite a few books,” Davis said. “We have color books that little children can buy. Then, we have Black faces to color. Those are things that I, as a child, missed out on because I didn’t see that growing up.”
The store grew in popularity with Black people and their communities, but the Davis’ soon ran into an unforeseen obstacle. Florin Mall closed in 2006 and Culture Collection needed a new location to service the public.
“We were the last people to leave there,” Davis said. “People kept saying ‘you can’t close because you’ve been around Sacramento so long.’ After that, we had to decide where we were gonna go.”
Culture Collection bounced around, testing new spaces throughout the greater Sacramento region. The Davis’ chose Florin Square Shopping Center, Sacramento’s Black Wall Street, as a new home in 2021. The new change came during the COVID pandemic, when many small Black-owned businesses were closing up shop.
“I just feel like this has been a good location for us,” Davis explained. “I think it’s exciting to be in a community where there’s representation of other people who look like me. It’s just worthwhile to take a trip through the whole building.”
Together, the Davis’ use Culture Collection to push Black education, representation and entrepreneurship. The Davis’ want other Black people to be successful too.
“We really want to encourage other people to open up businesses and be a Black business owner,” Davis said. “I’m excited about Florin Square. I see nothing but great things happening here. We’re all kind of one big family and everybody supports one another.”
The entrepreneurial journey is not one size fits all. For Timothy Poole, the first step towards entrepreneurship began with finding what we all desire — peace.
“There’s nothing like having peace,” said Poole. “It was by the waters where I found it. Just sitting by the water, throwing my pole out and reading a book. Just sitting back. I found a lot of peace right there.”
Poole learned how to fish at a young age. Now, he’s teaching others how to fish through Hooked on Fishing not on Violence (HOFNOV). It’s a nonprofit working to “use sport fishing as a vehicle to mentor children and create real moments of truth between our angler mentors and our young angler participants.”
“The mission for this program is to save our young folks,” said Poole. “It’s to give them an outlet that they never would have encountered, until they come to this program.”
Poole founded the mentorship program in 2001. Since Florin Square became Sacramento’s Black Wall Street, Poole decided to house the organization at the center in 2011. He was primarily inspired by the art on the walls. It paints a significant timeline of Black history from slavery to freedom, the Civil Rights Movement and a prosperous future.
“I looked at all the art in there,” Poole explained. “After walking that long hall and seeing where we came from and people that did a lot for our ethnicity, I figured, ‘Hey, I need to be on this wall one day.’ At Florin Square, Black folks work together and build together. That’s a big thing when you’re trying to build community.”
Before becoming a Black entrepreneur, Poole says he was shot five times by one gun. He promised to make a positive change and he did. Poole began mentoring the youth in underserved communities, acting as a father-figure and big brother through HOFNOV.
“We’ve had 3,200 people that have been through this program from start to now,” Poole said. “We’ve had a lot of young kids go from learning how to fish to showing folks how to fish.”
Darius Jacobs is a junior instructor for HOFNOV. He joined the program to find peace and avoid trouble at a young age. Now, he teaches other young people ages 5 to 15 how to fish, overcome challenges and maximize life.
“This has changed my life,” Jacobs said. “I was basically taking the wrong path. I had these elder people come out and explain like, ‘This is not the way to go.’ You’re not really alone. Someone else has gone through what you’ve gone through. So, instead of trying to go through it by yourself, just talk to somebody because maybe they have the answer that you need.”
HOFNOV holds fishing clinics on the weekends to get the youth outdoors. The program offers other services like sport fishing workshops, leadership group activities, day fishing outings, camping outings and fish derbies.
“What I want my program to be known for is how we interject into our young folks’ lives, meet them right where they are and take them where they want to go, the whole way. That builds a relationship of trust and that’s what these kids need nowadays.”
Florin Square continues to be a hub for Black entrepreneurs like Poole and the Davis’ to pursue their dreams. The center also provides opportunities to remember the past and plan for the future.
“Florin Square helped me and my organization grow,” said Poole. “There were so many people coming into the Square that I was able to connect with.”
Davis also explained “it’s never too late to start over, to start a business and be successful because the world’s waiting for all of us. There’s plenty of room for us to be successful business people.”
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