Illinois Black Wall Street - Black Wall Street-Illinois (IBWS), a Premier Organization in the state of Illinois was incorporated June 29, 2016 under House Resolution 1320 Sponsored by State Rep. LaShawn Ford and Authored by A'ndrea Paxton.
Co-Founder Jeffrey Dawkins sponsored and invited Co-Founder A'ndrea Paxton who is also Co-Founder of the Harvey Area Chamber of Commerce to sponsor a Juneteenth Convention and tour of the Historical Black Wall Street Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma under his then 2015 South Suburban Black Wall Street. The Historical tour was partnered with Greenwood Black Chamber of Commerce Marry Williams (Past Chair), the late Activist Markus Allen (CIBWS), Activist/Coordinator Revan Fellows along with a host of other Midwest Activists and and 20 Chicagoland businesses. What started as a one time event evolved into three years of Co-Sponsoring Juneteenth business events and networking to raise cultural awareness and the need to do the same in Illinois.
The seed for IBWS was planted, self-funded and operated by compassionate volunteers who assisted in conducting a statewide in-person and virtual tour of Black-African American communities and sub-quadrants. As an Urban Planner A'ndrea Paxton incorporated historical studies and planning advocacy as key tools for implementation of a uniform statewide structure for policy and programmatic reform to redevelop Black-African American Business Corridors throughout the state of Illinois.
Our motivation is fueled by the legacy, structure and diligence of the Black-African American Masterminds who planned, designed and built the Historical Greenwood "Black Wall Street" Business District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. A 1921 race riot resulted in the destruction and massacre of this stellar community, its businesses and banking resource center for Black- African American Communities across the United States. In awareness of the major impact of Red Summer across the country and in Illinois, the historic connection between Greenwood and Chicago was so clear that HR-1320 was to created in acknowledgement of the history and the need for policy reform to not only rebuild the Historical Black Wall Street Districts but create pilots that incubate, sustain and redevelop Black -African American Business Corridors throughout the state of Illinois.
.
Buy, Restore, Incubate, Recirculate, Maintain and Sustain Black Business Corridors Throughout The State of Illinois.