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Tulsa Area United Way, YWCA Tulsa Join Fulton Street Books' Buy Black Tulsa Campaign

Tulsa Area United Way and YWCA Tulsa have joined in a Buy Black Tulsa campaign launched last month.

Fulton Street Books owner Onikah Asamoa-Ceasar originally planned it as a month-long campaign, but it’s now grown and Tulsa Area United Way is distributing a printed directory of Black-owned businesses. The nonprofit has nearly 1,000 business partners and more than 25,000 regional donors.

President and CEO Alison Anthony said Tulsa Area United Way’s effort ties in with activities leading up to the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and are about helping all communities thrive.

"I mean, 100 years ago, I don't know where the community's philanthropists stood, but in the future, I want in the future people to know that the Tulsa Area United Way is actively working to support businesses today," Anthony said.

Tulsa Area United Way is also highlighting Black-owned businesses through social media posts.

YWCA Tulsa now has a business directory online at ywcatulsa.org. The online directory will also be available at BuyBlackTulsa.com starting Saturday.

YWCA Director of Community Engagement Ebony Easiley said the campaign is about investing in equity.

"If you’re looking nationally, if you’re looking locally, you see some of the same problems, whether it relates to housing or whether it relates to education, it all kind of ties back to the economic structures that exist throughout our country and there is a lack of resources and pouring back into communities of color," Easiley said.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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