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On a warm summer night in Greenwood, City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper (left) finds good reason to smile. She celebrates bringing the Black Wall Street Fair to her beloved community of North Tulsa. (Courtesy of the Black Wall Street Times)
From the Editorial Board
When she steps into a room, one cannot help but think of a young Shirley Chisholm. Vanessa Hall-Harper is that phenomenal woman that Tulsa’s District 1 has been waiting for. After all, Mrs. Hall-Harper is a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc and that goes without saying, “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining, you make progress by implementing ideas,” a famous Shirley Chisholm quote that Mrs. Hall-Harper pledges to live by.
At this year’s Terence Crutcher Foundation Gala, Vanessa Hall-Harper will be honored for her continued commitment in the pursuit for justice and equity for her constituents.
She’s a proud Tulsa native, raised in the heart of the community she now serves.
After graduating Tulsa Public Schools, she attended Jackson State University, a Historically Black College/University, in Jackson, Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She returned the favor to Tulsa, becoming an adjunct professor at Tulsa Community College in its Political Science Department.
She is also the Program Manager for the Tulsa Health Department’s Healthy Living Program. Hence, she’s been a long-time advocate for the eradication of food deserts and discount dollar stores prior to her service as a city councilor.
Her service to the city of Tulsa spans 23 years and counting. But don’t let her loyalty to the city be confused with her unbossed and unbought approach. She is at times relentlessly uncompromising and unapologetic about where her commitment lies, which is with the people of District 1. She is merely a living political replica of a Queen Nzinga.
She has stood proudly in opposition against the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, while other city council candidates welcomed the idea of endorsements.
Furthermore, Vanessa Hall-Harper has a proven track record for getting things done while simultaneously not compromising her integrity as a godly woman, an AKA, and simply put — a black woman.
Long List of Accomplishments
African American Affairs Commission
Tulsa’s First Expungement Expo
Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce
Six Month Moratorium Healthy Neighborhoods Overlay
New Grocery Store 2018
North Tulsa Clean Up Campaign
Revitalization of B.C. Franklin Park
Successful Executive Order that requires all City of Tulsa contracts to have a 10% utilization requirement for small businesses.
Small Business Enterprise Oversight Committee that reflects diversity.
Tulsa Development Authority meetings are now televised on TGOV to the community.
Hall-Harpers’ mission, vision, and values align perfectly with the Black Wall Street Times’, which is to see the revitalization and return to greatness for the Black Wall Street and to protect the legacy of the historic Black Wall Street with plans to make the area a national landmark.
Therefore, the Black Wall Street Times’ Editorial Staff would like to endorse City Council incumbent, Vanessa Hall-Harper for District 1 City Councilor.