Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove was a featured presenter at the 10th Annual HBCU Think Tank, themed BLACKOLOPY—a celebration of collective Black ownership, economic empowerment, political awareness, and cultural pride.
BLACKOLOPY, inspired by Monopoly and reimagined through a Black lens, honors the legacy of thriving Black economic ecosystems like Tulsa’s Greenwood District and Durham’s Hayti—prosperous “Black Wall Streets” that were deliberately destroyed through racist violence and policy. These acts were not historical accidents, but targeted efforts to dismantle Black power, ownership, health, and wealth. Today, those same forces appear in new forms: restrictive legislation, voter suppression, attacks on DEI, and economic barriers that block the path to self-sustained Black futures.
Unlike Monopoly’s winner-take-all approach, BLACKOLOPY centers on building, sharing, and thriving together. Dawn’s presentation focused on The Black Radical Tradition and the importance of building community self-sufficiency to reduce dependence on the state.