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Nehemiah Frank is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Black Wall Street Times, a news site honoring the tragic past and creating a just future for the Black people of Tulsa.
A century ago a white mob ravaged 35 square blocks of Greenwood, a Black neighborhood in Tulsa known as Black Wall Street for its economic success. Nehemiah Frank founded the Black Wall Street Times to ensure that we neither forget the history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Although Frank descends from the thousands of survivors who barely escaped with their lives, he had never heard about the massacre until he was in college. While still teaching in 2017, Frank launched the online newspaper to cover news and social justice issues relevant to Black Tulsa and the rest of Oklahoma. This year's centennial remembrance of the Race Massacre brought national attention to Black Wall Street's history, but Frank is focused on creating a future where Black Tulsans will thrive again. His homegrown advocacy and journalism lead the charge for economic justice from local government, fighting the ongoing inequality, and resisting gentrification from renewed interest. "We're not even asking for a handout or a cash payment," the TEDxTalk speaker told MarketWatch. "We're asking for people who are the descendants of those who committed the massacre in this city to hold the city itself accountable for the losses that we incurred during the massacre."