“History is a great teacher, but you have to go to class.”  -- Clifton Taulbert, International speaker and Pulitzer nominated author. 

Every time I hear Clifton speak, I’m reminded of the great power he has to embrace and inspire his audience.  Today, many of his themes are about entrepreneurial mindset and how that kind of thinking can be used to build stronger communities.  We’ve brought Clifton to speak in Montgomery County three times, starting in April of 2013.  He wows us every time. 

On the campus of Tulsa University, Clifton took his keynote audience to class last Saturday at a commemoration of the 95^th anniversary of the Tulsa race riot in 1921, the deadliest riot in American history during which hundreds of African American citizens were killed and 37 square blocks were burned to the ground.  The area, known as “Black Wall Street” was the Greenwood district north of downtown Tulsa.  He talked of much more than the tragedy and in that “rest of the story” lies the lessons from which we can benefit today. 

In the years after the devastation of the Civil War, from 1871 through 1921, freed blacks from all over the south headed toward Nicodemus, Kansas, a new black community.  By the early 20^th century, many of them began staying in Tulsa in an area that became known as Greenwood.  Eventually, there was more black intellectual and financial capital in Greenwood than anywhere else in the country.  “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, became the “crown jewel” of black communities; it flourished.  Just after Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) celebrations, on May 31 and June 1, 1921 the unexpected happened and it was all “Black Wall Street” was gone. 

Clifton’s lesson, however, focused on what phenomena had made “Black Wall Street” so great in the first place; imagination.  (Today, we would call it entrepreneurial thinking, but of course, we had yet to steal that term from the French.)  Imagination was about the power of thought and that through all the years of slavery “No one can incarcerate my imagination.”  The people coming to Greenwood were dreamers.  Without regard to exact plans or budgets or lack of public financing, they sat around dreaming “What can we build next?” Even the tragedy didn’t kill their imagination.  Within a decade of the devastation, things were rebuilt, stronger than ever. 

So, the lesson for us is to use more imagination and power of thought to get things done, in our businesses, our communities and in our families.  There are powerful thoughts within each of us, waiting to come out and do great things while having a fulfilling and prosperous life.  We’re learning that the Fab Lab experience brings out these thoughts.  The psychologists call this “self-efficacy” and we can all benefit from more of it. 

This event was sponsored by an organization called North Tulsa 100 (www.northtulsa100.com).  The “100” stands for their goal to create 100 new businesses in North Tulsa by the 100^th anniversary of the “Black Wall Street” riot of 1921.  There’s a lesson for us there too.  North Tulsa 100 realizes that, like Black Wall Street, their future prosperity lies within the economy and imagination that will be created by these 100 new businesses.  We should strive to create 100 new businesses in Montgomery County in the next five years.  

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.