(WASHINGTON. DC – June 16, 2026) – It all started in Washington, DC. Fifteen years ago, the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards launched what would become a national movement right here in the nation’s capital. There was no better place to begin. Washington is an international, political, and historic city. But for generations of Black people, it has been known by another name: Chocolate City. Mention DC, and certain names immediately come to mind. Chief among them is Mayor for Life, Marion Barry. Ask any true Washingtonian who their favorite mayor is, and chances are you’ll hear the same answer.…

(SOUTHEAST DC – June 13, 2026) – When we launched the first event in Washington, D.C., back in 2011, it wasn’t called the Black Wall Street Awards. It was called the Black Capital Awards. At the time, I was still learning the full story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District and the massacre of May 31–June 1, 1921. I had heard pieces of the story, but I had not yet connected all the dots between that history and the work I was trying to do. What I didn’t fully appreciate then was that I had spent my entire life walking through Baltimore’s own…

(WOODLAWN, MD – June 4, 2026) — Black Wall Street WOODLAWN will take place this evening, Thursday, June 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. at SHURA, located at 6665 Security Blvd. in Woodlawn. Now in its 15th year, the Black Wall Street series has honored more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, professionals, community leaders, and changemakers across nine cities. The initiative celebrates Black entrepreneurship while recognizing the individuals, organizations, and institutions that support economic empowerment and community development. Founded by BMORENews.com Publisher Doni Glover in 2011, Black Wall Street was created to inspire entrepreneurship, strengthen community connections, and highlight the remarkable achievements taking…

(MILFORD MILL – June 3, 2026) – There is a particular kind of ambition that doesn’t announce itself. It just works. It builds. It feeds people — literally and figuratively — and it never stops moving forward. That is Donovan Murphy. The owner and chief operator of seven Island Quizine restaurants and a thriving catering enterprise in Baltimore, Donovan Murphy has quietly become one of the most consequential figures in the city’s food and business landscape. And on June 4, 2026, he will be recognized as a Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards Woodlawn Honoree at 6665 Security Blvd in…

JOE MANNS BLACK WALL STREET AWARDS WOODLAWN 2026  •  JUNE 4, 2026 DERRICK JONES 2026 Honoree  |  Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards – Woodlawn “If you can’t help them up, don’t put your foot on their neck. Don’t look down on people. Be fair.” – Derrick Jones (BALTIMORE – June 3, 2026) – A proud graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Class of 1982, Derrick Jones came up competing on both sides of the line of scrimmage — offensive center and linebacker on the varsity football team. That same grit and discipline would carry him through everything that followed. After…

(WOODLAWN – June 1, 2026) – Some people make their mark through titles. Others make their mark through service. Gordon Dean Wilder, affectionately known to his friends as “Pett,” has spent a lifetime serving his community, helping others, and proving that success means little if you do not reach back and lift someone else up. A proud son of West Baltimore, Gordon’s story begins at Matthew A. Henson Elementary School, where he was a member of the school band and played the trombone. From there, he attended Lillie May Carroll Jackson Junior High School before becoming a Walbrook Warrior at…

BLACK WALL STREET WOODLAWN — 2026 HONOREE PROFILE A Georgia Tech graduate and Baltimore native, Aris Williams is carrying his father’s legacy into the digital age — one trivia question at a time. (BALTIMORE – May 31, 2026) — Some people inherit money. Some inherit property. Some inherit family businesses. Aris Williams inherited something even more valuable: a legacy of service. His father, Anthony “Marty” Williams, was one of the finest men I have ever known — and my best friend. Marty devoted much of his life to helping young men in Baltimore access higher education. He believed in opening…

BLACK WALL STREET WOODLAWN — 2026 HONOREE PROFILE From a 9-to-5 to multiple LLCs, Kizzy Dawkins turned a leap of faith into a full life of purpose — one pour, one property, one person at a time. (BALTIMORE – May 30, 2026) — There is a moment in every entrepreneur’s story where the comfort of a steady paycheck goes up against the pull of something bigger. Most people stay put. Kizzy Dawkins walked away. That decision — bold, deliberate, and rooted in faith — set in motion more than 13 years of building a career and brand in the bartending…

BLACK WALL STREET WOODLAWN — 2026 HONOREE PROFILE For more than two decades, Tony Ross has poured himself into Baltimore County’s youth — one coach, one mentor, one family at a time. (BALTIMORE – May 30, 2026) — There is a certain kind of person in every community who never seeks the spotlight but whose fingerprints are everywhere. You see them on the sidelines. You see them at the ballpark. You see them at the school. You see them showing up — year after year, weekend after weekend — for somebody else’s child. Tony Ross is that person. A dedicated…

BLACK WALL STREET WOODLAWN — 2026 HONOREE PROFILE (BALTIMORE – May 30, 2026) – When Michael Preston first offered me a job at Baltimore’s $100 million federally funded Empowerment Zone, it was my first opportunity to take my journalism and media career to the next level. From 1994 until Mike’s phone call in 1999, I served as co-editor and ultimately editor of the Sandtown-Winchester ViewPoint Newspaper. By the time I arrived on that scene, LaRian Finney was already making things happen in Baltimore. A proud graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Finney embodied the excellence Poly has long been known for. No…