Black Wall Street returns to New Haven as weeklong festival of business, culture

Get ready, Black Wall Street in New Haven is going big this year. The one-day event is returning for a third year as a weeklong festival.

“When you pour into the community, the community will pour back into you,” said Adriane Jefferson, the city’s Director of Cultural Affairs, as she thanked the numerous event sponsors on Wednesday.

The week kicks off Monday Aug. 12, and the lineup includes an artist showcase, film screening, an investing seminar, a fashion show, and it wraps up with the Black Wall Street business fair Saturday and a brunch on Sunday.

“These are the things we saw in our heads 10-15 years ago. It was just about us getting the platform and the resources,” said Rashad Johnson, co-founder of the Breed Entertainment.

Johnson and co-founder Aaron Rogers launched the first Black Wall Street fair in 2022. It’s grown from 35 vendors to 210 expected this year on the New Haven green.

“The ancestors are proud. As your elder, I’m proud. I’ve never seen anything of that magnitude in New Haven Connecticut in my 67 years,” said Diane X. Brown, founder of The Urban Librarian Consulting.

The size of the event is also a sign of the importance in New Haven’s Black community.

“Which truly is a testament of this being more than just a festival. This really being a movement,” Jefferson said.

Rogers, Johnson and Jefferson drew from the dark history of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre where 35 blocks of thriving black businesses were destroyed and hundreds were killed by white rioters.

“You all have turned a massacre into a festival. That deserves a round of applause,” said Erik Clemons, CEO and president of ConnCAT.

The event uses that history to positively showcase the Black businesses in New Haven 103 years later.

“We have a bunch of friends that are business owners, and we see that they lack opportunities and resources,” Johnson said. He added that a friend who was a vendor at the first event two years ago has seen big business growth.

“We had a person that was a vendor the first year, and he has a brick and mortar now. So little stories like that are proof and a testament that this actually works.”

Anthony Brown owns A Nice Touch Auto Detailing. He specializes in cleaning cars, boats and private jets, and customization for cars.

“Any color that you can think of or anything that you can think of in a wrap, we can do.”

He’s been in the detailing industry for 17 years, and officially launched his business seven years ago. He says he’s excited to be a part of Black Wall Street among the more than 200 small business.

“There’s literally businesses for everything that’s out there. So that’s what I’m excited about and then the networking and just being able to mingle,” Brown said. “Just to be in the mix of everything. And then on top of that just to personally know Aaron and Rashad and to see where they came from, it’s a big plus.”

Rogers and Johnson are also stepping up the technology this year, launching a Black Wall Street app to connect customers with businesses, and those businesses with resources.

“We’re just really excited to be able to impact businesses and the community 24/7 365 now, not just one week,” Rogers said.

Mayor Justin Elicker emphasized the importance of supporting Black Wall Street and those who historically are under supported in the entrepreneurial space.

“So, we need to be not just making things even but proactively coming out and using our dollars to help support Black businesses in our community.”