Michael Carter, Sr.: Humbled and Grateful


Friday, December 5, 2008 08:42:34
Michael Carter, Sr.
Oakland Post Web Editor

On Monday, December 1, 2008, World Aids Day, I was honored by the Alameda County Office of Aids in my capacity as Chairman of the Black Wall Street Merchants Association. Tazima Jenkins, the "Business Response to Aids" Coordinator, contacted our organization last Spring to help them get the "KNOW YOUR HIV/AIDS STATUS" message to our merchant associations' customer base. The geographical focus areas are 42nd avenue to San Leandro city line and from San Leandro Boulevard to MacArthur Boulevard where the infection rate is highest.

I was both deeply moved and humbled to stand with those who are actually stricken with this disease. People like Cynara Chapman- Dillon, diagnosed in 1993, and are the real award winners in this movement to cure. There's no better place in this nation than Oakland, to launch such a multi-strategy approach to lower the risk and increase health safety for our people.

The other true hero's are, The Alameda County Office of AIDS Administration, Gloria Lockett, CAL-PEP executive director; Marsha Martin, director of Get Screened Oakland, East Bay AIDS Walk and Business Responds to AIDS. Agencies include Alameda County Medical Center, AIDS Project of the East Bay, Children’s Hospital HIV Program, East Bay AIDS Center, Grupo Fremont VIP, HIV Education Prevention Project of Alameda County, Lifelong Medical Center and others.

Michael Carter, Sr., Chairman, BWSD
Discusses the future of Black Wall Street


Jeknins organized a Black Wall Street District Strategy Forum: with our merchants in April and spoke at our August "1st Saturday's Business Development Workshop". Both events held at Haywood Kempo Karate School at 4430 International in the Black Wall Street District. The Black Wall Street Merchants Associations' street team distributed over 200,000 merchant coupons in the targeted area with the "Know Your Status" message on the back. In addition, our web team placed banners on www.blackwallstreet.org and sent regular eblast to over 280,000 NorCal/Bay Area Subscribers.

In April we took apart in the Center for Disease Control's video campaign "Business Response to AIDS" which was launched in several Major American cities including our chapter city Chicago (Black Wall Street District Chicago)

Our merchant group is proud that we were honored along with three great Americans R&B legend D’Wayne Wiggins; Dorothy King, of Everett and Jones Barbeque; and Paula Welsh from Welsh Marketing/ PR and Event Planning.

This is the new movement of humanity. Get on board.