Top: Doulas Shamica Frasier and Brittany Needham representing Golden Radiance Village. Bottom: Members of the 40+ Double Dutch Club. Abiba Biao Photos.
As the birthday anthem “Shine a Light on Em” by Will Traxx blasted through the speakers, listeners near the front of the stage couldn’t resist the beat. Out on the New Haven Green, DJ Too Much had tapped into exactly the right spirit for the afternoon, and there was no better time to dance.
“Somebody shine a light on them,” emcees Frank Brady and Avery "Slay" Washington sang. Without hesitating, the crowd responded “Ayyyy!” after every line, marching to the beat.
The question Washington posed next to the crowd was simple: “Where the Leos at?” It wasn’t long before one woman walked to the front of the stage, claiming her title as the birthday queen.
Music, dance, and jubilation filled a jam-packed, sun-soaked Green last Saturday, as the fifth annual Black Wall Street (BWS) Festival returned to downtown New Haven after a full week of celebration in New Haven and Hamden. Held on the Green, where it has been for the past four years, the day-long event marked an extraordinary feat of Black entrepreneurship and arts and culture in the Elm City and across the state.
This week, for instance, included an entrepreneurship party at the Canal Dock Boathouse, youth poetry slam at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, youth “Lock In” at the Q House, and fashion show at CITA Park in downtown New Haven. A closing brunch was held on Sunday at Skiro Studios in Hamden.
Top: Aaron Rogers and Rashad Johnson. Bottom: Recognizing the community ambassadors.
The term “Black Wall Street” references the history, often overlooked and undertaught, of self-sustaining Black business districts in the twentieth century, many of which became the targets of devastating anti-Black violence. The most well-known example may be the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which in June 1921 was burned to the ground by a white mob. Not only were homes and businesses destroyed—undoing decades of economic progress that followed Reconstruction—but hundreds of Black people lost their lives.
In New Haven, BWS Fest intends to both honor and build on that history. Founded in 2022 by Aaron “Y.A.” Rogers and Rashad “Snacks” Johnson, co-owners of the production company The Breed Entertainment, the festival has continued to grow exponentially each summer, from a single day with 35 vendors in Temple Plaza in 2022 to 406 vendors, including 100 who came from out of state, this year.
In addition to the thousands of attendees who graced the Green, this year’s festival had close to 100 staff members to make the magic happen.
This year, the festival’s team grew to almost 100 people doing different logistics for the week. “We had different departments, so everything, it's not done with just me and Aaron … we have a whole team that plays their part to make this all happen for us,” Rashad “Snacks” Johnson said.
Top: DJ Lo Is Too Much. Bottom: The food truck scene, which ranged from soul food to Jamaican to sweet treats.
“So that growth, that five years itself kind of speaks for itself, that this is an event that people feel like they have to be at,” Johnson said. “It’s for the people by the people.”
This year also marked the organization’s first-ever community ambassador initiative honoring seven New Haven and Hamden residents who have helped spread the word about events and get people involved and engaged, sometimes for the first time.
Among the seven, six of whom were present Saturday, were community leaders like Diane X. Brown, branch manager at Stetson Library and a longtime supporter of the festival, and BLOOM owner Alisha Crutchfield, who sits on the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission and has spoken openly and often about the joy and struggle of being the owner of a small Black-owned business.
“We personally chose these particular entrepreneurs because we built a close relationship with them over the years, and they're committed to giving back to the community in their own way,” Rogers said in a short speech to the crowd. “We feel like it's really important that if a business is making money off the community, they giving back to the community, and they always do that on a regular basis.”
Top: First-time vendor Paula Louis. Bottom: Matriarch Millicent Bowens and her daughter, Westville-based salsera Alisa Bowens-Mercado.
And speaking of Black-owned businesses, they were out in full, vibrant force. First-time BWS vendor Paula Louis stood tall, with her handcrafted jewelry business Pj and Ruby’s. Named after her nickname “Pj” and her late mother Ruby, the Norwalk-based businesswoman reached five years in business earlier this year, and couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate.
On a display in front of her, attendees perused beaded and wire bracelets and mixed-media designs, such as resin earrings. As Louis guided potential customers through the options, she also gave a demo of her product to unsuspecting passerby, proudly sporting earrings from her camo collection. The olive green and black colorway of her earrings twinned with her camo skirt.
“I had a lot more jewelry, and guess what? The women [have been] loving it,” she said. “Everyone has been giving lots and lots and lots of great complements, so I mostly sold out of everything.”
Overarching goals for her business include launching her website in October, she said. She also expressed interest in vending at BWS again.
Top: Geegee and Lisa. Bottom: Neighborhood-specific signs on the Green.
BWS’ expansion hasn’t gone unnoticed to attendees either. Geegee and Lisa have attended previous iterations of the festival, and the pair, who declined to provide their last names, said the amount of vendors was the first thing they noticed.
“I think this time is the best ever,” Lisa said.
“Yeah, 'cause from the fountain this way, they never had any vendors this far out,” Geegee added.
The two weren’t looking for anything in particular to buy, just seeing what caught their eye. Geegee grabbed a pair of resin earrings from Louis, marbled with bright red and orange, mimicking the color of magma.
Top: Glynis Skinner. Bottom: Some of the art at the festival.
A proud spiritualist, Glynis Skinner stopped in her tracks to look through the array of gold jewelry at adornment and aromatherapy shop 3rd I Boutique. As visitors checked out their looks in the mirror, owner Se’Lah Oya El walked attendees through the jewelry options, meticulously restocking the table.
This year was Skinner’s first time attending the festival, as she was visiting New Haven from Boston to see some friends, and had the fortuitous timing of running into the festival . She described the celebration as “lovely,” but also added that she’d like to see more businesses being highlighted on stage.
“I'm really tethered to, just supporting my culture, and supporting Black people, everything Black,” she said.
In the end, Skinner left with two black paper bags in tow, holding over $300 worth of spiritual adornments, incense, and jewelry. Before Skinner went away, El was quick to cement the moment, whipping out her phone to take a picture of Skinner. Another happy customer was marked in the books and it wouldn’t be the last as more people cycled through.
In particular, Skinner noted her gravitation towards obtaining "holistic" and “Indigenous” jewelry pieces. She also added rings to her haul, to wrap crystals with later on and create her own jewelry. She noted the energy that different crystals carry.
“And I love the fact that the vendors were—this one in particular [3rd I Boutique] —was very unique in jewelry that I'm always looking for but I could never find,” she said.
At another booth was Golden Radiance Village, a doula and maternal health business run by doulas Brittany Needham and Shannon Knox. While Needham helped visitors, Shamica Frasier watched over the table full of baby books in Spanish and English.
This year, the event will take place October 17 at the Dixwell Avenue Q House. People interested in supporting them can purchase a t-shirt from their limited-edition New Haven Community Baby Shower Collection or donate directly here.
While this was Frasier's first time doing community outreach at BWS, New Birth Journey has attended the fair in past years.
“We’re just thankful to be here at New Haven Black Wall Street, to be able to be amongst community [members], and bring more awareness, support for community,” she said.
As attendees walked through a sea of vendors and tents, they had the chance to stop at signs indicating notable Black neighborhoods and financial hubs across the U.S., giving a history lesson on Black contributions and cultural impact. While the most well-known example may be the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which a white mob burned and bombed to the ground in 1921, there are many Black Wall Streets across the country.
Take, for instance, Oscarville, Georgia, a model for Black economic prosperity that now sits submerged beneath a man-made lake. Or Sweet Auburn, a turn-of-the century neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia that became a haven for Black business owners after race riots shook the city in 1906. Dozens of such examples exist across the country, including in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma.
In June of last year—105 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre—Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced a $105 million plan called the “Road To Repair,” a charitable trust that will direct funds toward housing, cultural preservation, and the purchase of land for the families of survivors of the massacre. It comes at a time when known survivors of the massacre, of whom there are only a few, are passing away, leaving the history and legacy of Greenwood to their descendants.
On another part of the Green, members of the 40+ Double Dutch Club—who have jumped their way through four of five festivals—got their jump ropes ready for an intense double dutch match. Despite the various people swapping in and out, each player had music in the back of their head, at times rhythmically jumping on beat to the tunes playing from the stage.
Founded by Chicagoan Pamela Robinson in 2016, the now-nationwide movement celebrates the physical and emotional benefits of Double Dutch, which came to North America through Dutch settlers hundreds of years ago, but has been popularized and preserved by Black women and girls for over a century. The group is for women over the age of 40, whose ages appear with their names on the backs of their red member t-shirts.
Rogers added that their goals for next year is to be “bigger” and provide opportunities for more businesses, increase entrepreneurial exposure for small businesses, and facilitate connections across various arts and culture sectors.
“We want this to be the biggest festival in the state. We want to be one of the biggest festivals on the East Coast, you know what I mean? We want to be the biggest Black festival ever created.”