"And in many ways the pioneers at the very beginning excluded African Americans from citizenship and from full participation in everyday life in Indiana," says James Madison, a professor emeritus in Indiana University's history department, "...that pattern was laid down at the very beginning and persisted into the 20th century."

Black Wall Street was a thriving community in Oklahoma in the early 1900s full of Black owned businesses, theaters, schools, and homes. Black Wall Street was the epitome of a self-sustaining community and strength where Black people supported each other, which allowed for easier access to resources, savings, housing, jobs, education, and health. Black Wall Street was just one of many thriving communities in the United States - including one right here on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis in the first half of the 20th century - but it also became a site that would serve as an example of the violence and hatred that grew out of greed from white financial interests. 

Over two centuries of state-mandated oppression has placed the Black community at a disadvantage on many levels - economically, academically, in health measures and more. To learn more about Black Wall Street as well as the history of racism in Indiana and resources that have informed this petition, please visit these links: The Original Black Wall Street​, The History of Racism in Indiana, and The Ethnic Cleansing of Black Indianapolis.

Building on the basic tenants of the Black Wall Street movement, we seek to build Black Independence through granting of land in Indiana on which to build a community including homes, businesses, farming, and a non-profit learning center. Black Owned Midwest will provide opportunities for low-cost business, land and/or home ownership for African Americans by providing financial support, skill building and support to those living in the community. To learn more about Black Owned Midwest, visit our website at Black Owned Midwest.

In order to begin to address some of the manifest wrongs committed against our Black community by the State of Indiana, we, the undersigned, are requesting that land be granted at no charge to Black Owned Midwest to re-create a Black Wall Street in Indiana where Black people can live safely, freely and be offered opportunities to learn, grow, prosper, and thrive.