In Honor of A.J. Smitherman’s Birthday, Raven Majia Williams
Launches the A.J. Smitherman Foundation, Advancing Black Wall Street 100
On December 27, 2025— the birthday of pioneering journalist, publisher, and Greenwood co-founder A.J. Smitherman — Raven Majia Williams announced the launch of The A.J. Smitherman Foundation, marking the latest milestone in Black Wall Street 100, a movement she founded more than a decade ago to excavate, preserve, and reclaim a legacy that was deliberately buried.
Williams will discuss the launch of the A.J. Smitherman Foundation, the release of her book, and the broader mission of Black Wall Street 100 during an upcoming appearance on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Selected Media Coverage & Appearances
About A.J. Smitherman
A.J. Smitherman was a pioneering journalist, publisher, and civic leader, and a founder of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma — widely known as Black Wall Street. He was the publisher of the Muskogee Star, Tulsa Star, and Empire Star, and one of the most prominent Black newspapermen of the early 20th century.
Through his journalism, editorials, and an epic poem written in the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Smitherman documented the rise, destruction, and aftermath of Greenwood as events unfolded. He was also among the earliest journalists to expose the guardianship system that stripped Black and Native heirs of their oil wealth and to organize resistance efforts to protect generational assets.
His work remains a primary historical record of Black Wall Street and the era surrounding the Tulsa Race Massacre.
About Raven Majia Williams
Raven Majia Williams is a producer, cultural strategist, and digital pioneer whose work sits at the intersection of media, technology, and historical preservation. She is the founder of Black Wall Street 100, a movement dedicated to education, preservation, and narrative integrity surrounding Greenwood and Black Wall Street.
Williams is the great-granddaughter of A.J. Smitherman, founder and publisher of the Tulsa Star and a primary documentarian of Greenwood before and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. For more than a decade, she has led research, documentation, and narrative development to ensure that Smitherman’s work — and the historical record it represents — remains accurate, accessible, and descendant-informed.
She served as Consulting Producer on the two-part documentary The Legacy of Black Wall Street (OWN / Discovery+) and as Consulting Producer on Blindspot: Tulsa Burning, an NAACP Award-winning podcast produced with NPR in partnership with A&E and The HISTORY Channel.
Across her work, Williams’ focus is stewardship — ensuring that communities connected to history are not only consulted, but recognized as producers and decision-makers in how their stories are told.
Selected Film & Audio Credits
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The Legacy of Black Wall Street — Consulting Producer (OWN / Discovery+)
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Blindspot: Tulsa Burning — Consulting Producer (NAACP Award-winning podcast; NPR in partnership with A&E and The HISTORY Channel)