Business Strategy: Civil rights history honored in Oklahoma City

This week marks two significant civil rights anniversaries in Oklahoma Citythe 66th anniversary of the Oklahoma City sit-in movement and the 55th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Sanitation Workers Strike. In the six decades since, our city has continued making progress toward preserving history, investing in neighborhoods and creating initiatives to build up minority-owned businesses.

Civil rights leader Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council led the 1958 movement with a sit-in demonstration at Katz Drug Store. Their nonviolent sit-ins effectively ended long-held discriminatory practices in OKC. Housed at what became the Freedom Center , the NAACP Youth Council continued working throughout the city to end racial discrimination.

Among the upcoming MAPS 4 projects is the northeast OKC plaza that will be home to both the Freedom Center and the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. This area will serve as a local civil rights hub and a museum on site will honor the city’s history, civil rights leaders and the efforts to end segregationist policies. These two new centers aim to reflect inspiration as a new community gathering place.

The Henrietta B. Foster Center, another MAPS 4 project, will create a small business support center in the Innovation District, with an emphasis on minority-owned small businesses. The center will become a multi-service hub for minority entrepreneurs to find consulting, resources and training.

In addition to these MAPS 4 programs, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), The Alliance partnered with organizations to administer funding and grants to programs directed at uplifting minority-owned businesses. Progress OKC and the OKC Minority Founder Accelerator (OMFA) are notable ARPA programs that have supported several cohorts of business owners with training and business planning resources, with new cohorts starting this fall. These programs accelerate the minority entrepreneurial ecosystem and provide resources for these small businesses to grow.

Strategic investment is a powerful tool for preserving our past. Those historic demonstrations 66 years ago laid an incredible foundation on which to build. The Alliance for Economic Development of OKC continues to advance projects to improve our city and offer meaningful support to minority-owned businesses, as well as supporting historical preservation to honor our city’s civil rights past.

Kenton Tsoodle is the president of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City .

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