I get to know a little about one stranger each week for all of 2024

I met Angela as I was walking down the street in the Greenwood section of Tulsa. She is a proud store owner of the Black Wall Street Corner Store and More. Her shop is an eclectic mix of all sorts of products, including souvenirs, clothing, snacks, books, and art. It’s the kind of store that’s fun to walk through because you just don’t know what little treasure you’re going to uncover next.

Angela was full of facts about the history of the Black Wall Street area of Tulsa. She and her employee, Cynthia, gave us directions to the Greenwood Cultural Center, where we could learn more about the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. I asked her about the building across the street with the unusual brick face, and she explained that it was rebuilt from the rubble left over after the destruction of the Black Wall Street area.

Angela wasn’t always a shop owner and had a few different careers and businesses before she eventually started her corner store, including opening a restaurant a week before everything was shut down because of COVID. Losing her restaurant must have been devastating, but she looks on the bright side and pointed out that it led to her corner store so she’s happy with how it all worked out.

I’m lucky to have run into Angela and find out first hand about some of the history of the Greenwood area and what life is like there today. If you’re in the area, you can stop by her little store and wander the aisles to find a treasure of your own.