MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota and TULSA, Oklahoma –  Whether it be over the course of 100 years or just a couple, Black-owned businesses in both Tulsa’s historic Greenwood district and George Floyd Square in south Minneapolis experience struggles with foot traffic and tourism. 

Though businesses in both areas have experienced adversity at every turn, owners stay resilient through a variety of ways, coming up with unique business models or advertising themselves in different ways.

Business owners from the two cities shared a glimpse into the plights of their companies and their hopes going forward despite ongoing hardships.

George Floyd Square Businesses

Smoke in the Pit

Dwight Alexander, co-owner of barbecue restaurant Smoke in the Pit, grew up in the George Floyd Square area and has been part of the neighborhood since 1989.

Before the murder of George Floyd, business was good. Afterward, though, is a different story. Alexander noted that people used the opportunity of tourism to their advantage after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

“Ever since George Floyd, a lot of people have took advantage of it,” Alexander said. “The problem I have is the negative input-output that everybody outside is paying [to] this neighborhood right now.”

Though George Floyd Square benefits from tourism around the memorial site, to Alexander the businesses have been suffering since 2020. 

“The outside world is not realizing that, they’re not seeing that part,” Alexander said. 

Alexander touched on resilience and what that meant to him with his lived experiences, and discussed how everybody wants the same thing but pursues it differently.

“Basically, [resilience is] everybody getting along,” Alexander said. “At the end of the day, nobody getting hurt. Everybody should be heard.”

Dollar & Up

Harrison Hollivay, one of the owners of Dollar & Up, a clothing store with the goal of affordability for all, believes that no should be without basic needs.

In the past years, business has slowed from what it used to be when Dollar & Up first opened up. Hollivay’s aspirations for his business, now, is not just about his business but his community as well.

“Really just being a community. What we were before COVID. Being active and visiting with each other and people being back outside and using the areas for what it was used for,” said Hollivay.  “We need to keep that door open, that’s all. Get back to where we got the buses running down, you know, because obviously business comes with location. When we first opened there was a lot going on. Now it’s turned into basically a side street resident, [we] need to go back to some regular flow.”

Hollivay encouraged Minneapolis residents to be open to these businesses on the square and take time to get to know them.

“I would reach out to every door that you see open as far as a business and walk in and ask questions to see what’s offering for them” Hollivay said. “Don’t be scared to learn something different.” 

Greenwood Businesses

Liquid Lounge

The Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge is at the center of the Greenwood District.  The coffee shop is where you can get a good cup of coffee along with a sense of community and a greater understanding of the history of this rich city. The Liquid Lounge is owned by artist, historian and Greenwood tour guide Kode Ransom.

“It initially started just to have a place where we could teach people business, help them get started in business, but also recreate the model of how Greenwood was built, which was having one building that housed multiple businesses,” Ransom said.

The goal of this coffee shop is to provide the residents of Greenwood a sense of togetherness and a space to educate themselves on everything Black Wall Street.

“The Liquid Lounge represents true community. We try to make sure at this shop nothing is centered around making money, per se. I will say we probably have some of the cheapest coffee you’ll find in the city.” Ransom said.

Sharing Black history is part of this coffee shop. The decorations of the Liquid Lounge speak to the rich history of Greenwood, with a mural on the wall depicting important figures in African American history. The drink names also spark conversation. For example, a ‘Red Summer’ alludes the 1919 lynching of black men across the U.S. to with most of the drinks having historical names.

“So, they order a ‘Red Summer’ then they normally ask the question ‘What is a ‘Red Summer’? And then you can kind of educate them on that,” said Ransom. “People are being educated and they don’t know [it].” 

Ransom expresses how throughout generations the spirit of resilience shines through Greenwood.

“Greenwood was a community of strangers who chose to work together every day. And so that resilient spirit, the Greenwood spirit, what we call it, like it never left and it stays here.”

Donni P’s Math Tutoring

Donnell Hawkins, Tulsa teacher and owner of Donni P’s Math Tutoring, started tutoring because he loves math. He recognized the need to support students in a state that ranked 49th in the country for education.

“There’s a math need in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Hawkins said.  “Forty-ninth in the nation of education, there needs to be a change.”

Though not from Tulsa originally, the spirit of giving back in the north Tulsa community is the reason he stayed in the city after going to college there.

“The community kept me here, I stayed here because I understand the need,” Hawkins said. “That’s when I saw that spirit, this is where I can become an educator.”

While there is a spirit of entrepreneurship in the Greenwood area, Hawkins also sees the disparity when it comes to educational support for children. 

“All together, I service roughly 100 to 120 students a year when it comes to math tutoring, math programs, et cetera,” Hawkins said.

One of the most important ideas to Hawkins is instilling good values in his students, like resilience and believing in themselves.

“I just try to get them to know themselves, know what they like, and champion who they are. When a student loses themself, that’s when they go down to the deep end,” Hawkins said. “Be who you are, know your gifts, and just grow from that.”

Hawkins noted his concept of resilience involved strategizing how to get around what’s blocking you from your goal.

“There’s a spirit within you that the people need out of you, you don’t just stop because somebody tells you to stop,” Hawkins said.

The Muscle Squad

Reggie Cooper, owner of The Muscle Squad in Black Wall Street, was inspired to build his business in this historical area because of where he grew up in North Tulsa. 

“I want to give back as far as working with the athletes all around everybody, but mainly the athletes, the younger generation, trying to show them a better way with health and fitness, inspiring them to do something different, and just just helping out the community,” said Cooper.

The spirit of the community has helped him grow as a business owner. 

“It’s been good for me because I’m in the heart of it,” said Cooper. “I actually had a kid that reached out to me recently saying, ‘Hey, you came and spoke to my school two years ago.’Now he’s an entrepreneur. So that made me feel good, and I know it is working.”

Cooper hopes to keep seeing the community growing, with expanding businesses and increasing population.

“It’s been a lot of new businesses, a lot of new people in the community. So I see the change. I see the shift for sure. Cooper said. “It’s a beautiful thing if we can keep going and get more involved.”

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