Today we close Kwanzaa with Imani — Faith: faith in ourselves, faith in our people, and faith in the future we are building together. As we step into this new year, I wanted to personally invite you to explore what has been unfolding behind the scenes: - BlackWallStreet100.com — where the movement continues to take shape, grounded in history, economics, and collective responsibility. - AJSmitherman.com — the home of the A.J. Smitherman Foundation, where you can JOIN THE NEWSLETTER to stay connected to new resources, programming, and updates as we preserve and protect the historical record. This work is about more than websites or announcements, it's about belief — belief that our stories matter, belief that truth deserves stewardship, and belief that what we build together can endure. Thank you for being here, for your faith, and for walking into this new year with intention. With gratitude and respect, Raven 🖤 Imani

Today is Kujichagulia — Self-Determination, and it’s also my great-grandfather A.J. Smitherman’s birthday. Kujichagulia is about naming ourselves and telling our own stories — not allowing others to define us, edit us, or extract meaning without consent. A.J. Smitherman didn’t interpret history years later. He documented it as it happened — through his newspaper, the Tulsa Star, and through an epic poem he wrote in the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. I’ve been quiet here for a while — not because the work stopped, but because it deepened. Today marks an important moment: - The release of the book documenting A.J. Smitherman’s work - The formal launch of the A.J. Smitherman Foundation - The continuation of Black Wall Street 100 as a movement rooted in authorship and truth This community understands something essential: self-determination begins with authorship. 👉 If you want to explore the record directly — the book, the Foundation, and the source material — you can find everything here: AJSmitherman.com I’ll be sharing more regularly here again — context, documents, and reflections that don’t always belong on social media. If you’re here, you’re early — and you’re in the right room. Kujichagulia.

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