In Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District, Radical Futures collaborated with the Haywood Burns Institute and the Opportunity Accelerator to facilitate a 31-member community governance workgroup. Following a history of systemic harm, including the 1921 race massacre and exclusionary urban renewal policies, this initiative focused on a community-driven development plan for 56 acres of publicly owned land. We used speculative futures tools and design fiction to help residents move beyond historical trauma and envision a bustling, sustainable hub where Black-owned housing and businesses circulate wealth locally.
Central to this process was the creation of a fictional community development corporation, which served as the early prototype for what has since become the Greenwood Legacy Corporation. To make this vision tangible, we designed fictitious news articles and archival materials documenting the organization’s future initiatives and local accomplishments. By interacting with these “future histories,” workgroup members were able to stress-test their ideas and align on the specific institutional structures needed to build inclusive wealth while welcoming diverse neighbors.
This immersive world-building helped the workgroup establish five core principles: honor the past, recognize that Black wealth is more than money, prioritize development without displacement, value relationships before real estate, and reduce friction. The project culminated in a visionary blueprint entitled From Roots to Fruits: Growing Black Prosperity in Greenwood. By walking backward from these fictional prototypes to the pragmatic steps required today, the community created a roadmap for restorative justice and genuine community ownership of real estate.
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