TULSA, Okla.–For the last three years, Boston-born Tulsa Remote transplant Amnoni Myers has immersed herself in the community as she built her brand as an entrepreneur. From authoring a book to launching a new app, Myers credits her success to moving authentically.
It wasn’t easy to gain the trust and support of born-and-raised Tulsans, especially in a community home to one of the worst instances of racial domestic terror: the Tulsa Race Massacre. For generations Black residents–especially in north Tulsa–have watched as resources failed to reach their community.
In an interview with the Black Wall Street Times, Amnoni Myers broke down her journey to success. She also acknowledged that some residents have criticized the Tulsa Remote program itself, which pays solutions-oriented, young professionals and entrepreneurs $10,000 to move to Tulsa.
She notes, however, that while the program funds full-time remote workers from out-of-state to move to the city, the goal is to create a more diverse and vibrant ecosystem that provides more opportunities for Tulsans of all backgrounds to live, work and grow.
Who is Amnoni Myers?
As a survivor of the foster care system, Amnoni Myers is no stranger to the friction that comes with trying to create a sense of community within groups from different backgrounds.
Abandoned at the hospital at birth during the brutal crack epidemic, it was her late younger sister’s encouraging words that inspired her to use her experience to write polices on expanding trauma-informed techniques in the foster care system.
Her work landed her a coveted internship in the Obama White House. Last year Myers spoke with the Black Wall Street Times about the release of her book, “You Are the Prize,” which chronicles her personal journey and the final words of encouragement from her sister.
Most recently, she sat down to discuss her journey navigating through Tulsa Remote and her advice for those following in her footsteps.
The Journey to Tulsa
The Black Wall Street Times (BWST): What has your three-year journey in Tulsa been like?
Amnoni Myers:
“Honestly, I never thought I would ever step foot into Oklahoma, the Midwest. And part of it was because there was a fear of the unknown that I wasn’t necessarily sure what to expect. And I remember when I first told my family and my friends that I was moving to Oklahoma. I wish that I would have been able to really capture their initial reactions when I told them that I was going to come.
And so many of them were just like, ‘Don’t go.’ And it wasn’t because… and to be quite honest, I wasn’t even aware that there were Black people that were living in Oklahoma. Just as much as people would say, ‘I didn’t even know there were Black people living in Boston.’
For me, my fear was mostly around how I was going to be perceived or accepted, in terms of just by like the white community, and just the community in general. But I knew that I wanted to come. I knew that I was somebody that’s lived in a lot of different states. So noticing that the community I wasn’t necessarily building because I was still experiencing a lot of my grief, I was like, you know, I feel like I’m ready for a change, and I want to move to a whole new city to be able to expand.”
The struggles of integrating in a new city
BWST: What were the initial challenges you faced as a Black queer woman in Tulsa as a Tulsa Remote participant?
Amnoni Myers:
“When I first moved here, I moved into an uninhabitable place. And I didn’t, I wasn’t aware of just even the politics or even just all of the things that surrounded housing. I had to shower at Planet Fitness because I wasn’t able to use the shower in where I was living.
I remember calling legal aid, I was advised to call legal aid, and I was talking to them on the phone. And this woman said to me, she was like, ‘If you don’t lower your voice, I’m going to hang up the phone on you.’ And it was very prevalent and very present that I was Black and that I was a woman and that I was immediately seen as an angry Black woman when I felt like I was actually being very, very understanding.
But my passion was mistaken. And so I just remember being at this crossroad of saying, like, do I want to stay here in Oklahoma? Do I want to leave? Should I give it a shot; should I give it a chance? Should I fight? What should I do? And essentially, I said, you know what, I’m going to make the best of it.”
Finding community and safe spaces
BWST: How did you navigate finding community as a Black queer woman?
Amnoni Myers:
“The first thing that I want to do is I want to find out where the Black spots are, where the Black people are. Like, I was just like, you know, I want to be able to find community because I feel like for me as somebody that grew up in the foster care system, I feel like home has been something that’s been really important to me.
And that’s something that I’ve always been on the search for. And so coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma, initially, I would say that it was a struggle. But I eventually connected with Black Queer Tulsa. And that was really a game-changer for me as well. I remember meeting you there and being surrounded by other Black queer people and feeling a sense of safety and feeling a sense that I wasn’t alone.”
Amnoni Myers on bridging divides between Tulsa Remote and the local community
BWST: How do you view the relationship between Tulsa Remote participants and local Black communities?
Amnoni Myers:
“A lot of us as Black people who come from California, New York, Boston, like all of these metropolitan cities, we all have experienced and have seen gentrification. We’re experiencing it, we’ve experienced it in real time. And Tulsa is experiencing it in real time.
What I didn’t realize was that I would also be seen as a gentrifier as a Black person, you know? And that within itself was something that I had to acknowledge because that wasn’t something that I was aware of when I first moved here. I wasn’t even aware of, I was aware of Black Wall Street, but I wasn’t fully aware; I wasn’t really fully aware of the massacre.
“And it made me feel better that some local people were not fully aware of it either. So for me, I’ve learned that we need to sit with each other, hear each other’s stories, and figure out how we can bridge the gap.”
Amnoni Myers on personal growth during Tulsa Remote and ongoing projects
BWST: What have you achieved during your time in Tulsa?
Amnoni Myers:
“My book came out in January of 2021 or 2022, and it’s about to hit its three-year anniversary. And that experience has catapulted me into an environment that I never thought I would see myself a part of. I’ve also been working on an app called Launch Ahead, where we’re digitizing the transition care process for young people in foster care.
“The app came out of my own journey of aging out of foster care and learning that many young people are not accessing resources because they don’t know about them or because they’ve been so traumatized by the system that they just want to get out. My hope is that my app will help young people have access to resources and support to transition successfully.”
Envisioning the future
BWST: What is your vision for Tulsa’s future?
Amnoni Myers:
“I’ve been envisioning what a Truth and Reconciliation Commission could look like here in Tulsa. When you think about the race massacre and all of the negative things that came with that, people haven’t been able to grieve. People have just had to move on and hustle and figure it out.
“Tulsa is in a place where the grief hasn’t been processed. And it’s similar to how I felt when I was at a predominantly white college. I want to figure out how we can come together, invest in one another, and create spaces where healing can actually happen. That’s the work I want to be a part of.”
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