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AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE A RICH HISTORY HERE IN DES MOINES THAT STARTED MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO. AND THOSE THAT DRIVE THROUGH THE CITY EVERY DAY ARE PASSING THROUGH WHAT WAS ONCE A SAFE HAVEN FOR BLACK COMMUNITY IN A SEGREGATED AND JIM CROW STRICKEN COUNTRY. ����vlog HAS OLIVIA TYLER TAKES US DOWN THE ROAD OF WHAT WAS AND WHAT IS COMING IN THE CITY OF DES MOINES. EVERYTHING THAT YOU WOULD NEED TO HAVE A THRIVING BLACK COMMUNITY, THAT’S WHAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAD. THERE WAS A VERY THRIVING AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY BARBERSHOPS, PHARMACIES, DENTAL OFFICES, GROCERY STORES, NIGHTCLUBS, JAZZ CLUBS, HOTELS. IT WAS A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE. NEIGHBORS LOOKED OUT FOR THEIR KIDS. YOUR KIDS? NEIGHBORS WOULD DISCIPLINE YOUR KIDS AS THEY WOULD DISCIPLINE THEIR KIDS. WHEN THE FREEWAY CAME THROUGH IT, IT WASN’T LIKE IT WIPED IT OUT IN ONE NIGHT. IT WAS A SLOW AND SYSTEMATIC TAKING DOWN OF A NEIGHBORHOOD. I-235 IOWA WAS MOST HEAVILY USED. INTERSTATE OPENED IN DES MOINES IN 1961, BUT BEFORE THOUSANDS OF CARS DROVE THROUGH HERE EVERY DAY, THIS LAND WAS THE CENTER OF IOWA’S BLACK COMMUNITY. IT ALL STARTED HERE IN FORT DES MOINES. THE FIRST AND ONLY TRAINING SITE FOR BLACK OFFICERS IN THE U.S. ARMY DURING WORLD WAR ONE. THE FORT BROUGHT BLACK MEN FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY INTO IOWA. IT LATER TRAINED BOTH BLACK SOLDIERS AND SERVICEWOMEN IN WORLD WAR TWO. WHEN THE WAR ENDED, MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS DECIDED TO STAY AND TURNED TO A FLOOD RAVAGED, REDLINED NEIGHBORHOOD ON CENTER STREET. SOON AFTER, DES MOINES BLACK HUB BEGAN TO FLOURISH. YOU HAVE A LOT OF BLACK BUSINESSES THAT ARE BEING ADVERTISED, SO THE SEPIA SUPPER CLUB IN THE CENTER STREET NEIGHBORHOOD. WHEN YOU HEARD SEPIA OR READ SEPIA, IF YOU WERE A BLACK PERSON, YOU KNEW THAT THAT WAS AN OKAY SPOT TO GO TO. YOU’VE GOT AN AD FOR THE IOWA BYSTANDER, WHICH WAS THE BLACK OWNED NEWSPAPER HERE IN DES MOINES. THE CRESCENT BEAUTY SCHOOL AT 1407 CENTER, THAT WAS A BLACK OWNED BUSINESS TO TRAIN BLACK WOMEN TO BE STYLISTS. BUT IT ALL CAME TO A HALT WHEN THE CITY BROKE GROUND FOR I-235, THE INTERSTATE AND THE CITY’S URBAN RENEWAL PLAN FORCED THE CENTER STREET COMMUNITY OUT. EVERYONE I KNEW, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO HAD TO FIND NEW PLACES TO LIVE. MOVING FURTHER NORTH, WHILE THE THRIVING BLACK COMMUNITY ON CENTER STREET IS NO LONGER. MANY WHO ONCE LIVED THERE NOW RESIDE A COUPLE STREETS TO THE NORTH. HERE ON SIXTH AVENUE. IN THE MEMORIES OF WHAT THE COMMUNITY WAS, REMAIN A LEGACY PAINTED WITH THE FAMILIES THAT HAVE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS. SO CENTER STREET WAS ACTUALLY ON THE OTHER SIDE, OR EXACTLY WHERE THE FREEWAY IS NOW. JASMINE BROOKS GREW UP IN DES MOINES. SO DID HER HUSBAND. TODAY, THEY ARE TWO OF THE ONLY BLACK DEVELOPERS IN THE STATE. THE SITE THAT’S BEHIND YOU THAT IS NOW A PARKING LOT WAS A CHURCH AT ONE POINT IN TIME, AND MY GRANDFATHER USED TO OWN A BUILDING THAT USED TO BE A BUSINESS THAT’S RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. THAT’S NO LONGER THERE. BROOKS IS NOW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SIXTH AVENUE CORRIDOR, AN IOWA NONPROFIT FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABLE REDEVELOPMENT OF UNDERUTILIZED PROPERTIES ON SIXTH AVENUE. THROUGH THEIR PARTNERSHIP WITH MAIN STREET IOWA, THE CITY OF DES MOINES FUNDS ABOUT 50% OF THEIR BUDGET. MERCY ONE HOSPITAL AND WELLS FARGO BANK ALSO DONATE ANNUALLY. BUT THEY SAY WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS, THEY CAN’T FULLY COVER OPERATING EXPENSES. THEIR GOAL TO ATTRACT INNOVATIVE DEVELOPERS AND COMMUNITY FOCUSED INVESTORS TO REVITALIZE THE AVAILABLE PROPERTIES IN THE AREA, LIKE THE NEW BLACK OWNED CENTER AT SIXTH. IT’S AN INCUBATOR FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE’RE TRYING TO TAKE THE HISTORY, AND ALTHOUGH A LOT OF IT HAS BEEN ERASED, WE’RE TRYING TO BRING IT BACK TO LIFE IN NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS, BUT TRYING TO RALLY AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY IS NOT AN EASY TASK. DARIUS JACKSON HAS LIVED IN THE RIVERBEND NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING SIXTH AVENUE FOR OVER 20 YEARS. HE SAYS TODAY, THERE’S A NEGATIVE PERCEPTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE AREA. WE HAVE THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE CITY. WHAT THAT DOES IS THAT DRAWS DISAFFECTED PEOPLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE SERVICES. NOW, THAT IN ITSELF IS NOT A NEGATIVE THING. WE HAVE SEVERAL UNOCCUPIED STRUCTURES. A LOT OF THOSE ARE OWNED BY PEOPLE WHO DO NOT LIVE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. JACKSON SAYS HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE NEIGHBORS RECLAIM SOME OF THOSE STRUCTURES. ALL WITH THE GOAL OF PRESERVING AND EXPANDING ON THE CULTURAL HUB THAT WAS ONCE HERE IN DES MOINES. THAT PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP IS WHAT IS GOING TO RESTORE AND REVITALIZE THE NEIGHBORHOOD. IN DES MOINES, OLIVIA TYLER, ����vlog EIG