His family created a legacy of building community in Black neighborhoods. Here's how he is continuing it
Sandino Thompson’s family history pre-dates Oklahoma as a state and territory. Family members have ties to multiple historically Black towns and the heart of Oklahoma City’s Black community.
His mother’s family moved to Oklahoma City after leaving the now-defunct all-Black town of Huttonville. Their part of the family tree called northeast Oklahoma its home starting during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.
His father’s family included descendants who lived in another all-Black town, Clairview (near Boley). They started calling Oklahoma City home shortly after its founding with some living along NE 4 when it was in the heart of the city’s Black community.
That legacy was kept fresh with Thompson, whose parents Wayne and Melba continued the family mission of building community as both a business and civic mission. Both were taught by civil rights legend Clara Luper at Dunjee Elementary. The Thompsons took their son to Boley and other all-Black towns while Wayne Thompson worked with Black descendants of people enslaved by tribal members.
Sandino Thompson is now making his own impact, including the development of the commercial shopping center at NE 23 and Rhode Island, building a solar power company in northeast Oklahoma City, and most recently, launching a $15 million investment fund targeting minority start-ups.
“It's a legacy thing,” Thompson said. “Building, doing things while also trying to improve our society is what I know.”
More: Community builder to oversee $15 million investment fund focused on minority start-ups
Thompson recently visited with The Oklahoman about his efforts to improve minority areas of the city and challenges posed by the current political climate.
Q: Who was the biggest influence in shaping you to be the man you are today?
A: The most influential for me would be my mother, Melba Burkhalter Thompson. She grew up on a small farmstead with no running water and was taught by Nancy Davis who encouraged her to become the first person in her family to graduate from college at Oklahoma State University. I think her exposure to higher education prepared her to support and encourage my wide-ranging interests and curiosity as a child. We didn’t have a lot when I was young, but what we had she used to open my eyes to the world.
A decade before we ever heard about the internet, I was exposed not only to "renaissance men" like Leonardo DaVinci, Nikola Tesla and Benjamin Franklin but, just as importantly for me, Black polymaths like Benjamin Banneker, George Washington Carver, and locally Roscoe Dunjee. I could see myself in those stories and their commitment to activism and accomplishment made a big impression on me.
Q: You have been described in various forums as either a community builder or community developer. What do these descriptions mean to you?
A: It has always been difficult to describe what I do. There is a running joke among my friends and colleagues that you could ask four different people what I do for living and get four different answers. I have always resisted being put into a particular box or someone telling me I must walk a specific path. ...
We are in what some people call the Third Industrial Revolution. With so much access to information and new insights, it seems incredibly limiting to just settle for being considered one thing or in one profession.
I am less focused on professional titles and more focused on the why in the work that needs to be done. I chose the title “Community Developer” to describe myself because it’s a good way to explain to anyone my why. It allows me to set a clear intent and align with those who have similar objectives.
Q: Not everyone chooses to pair up a bachelor’s degree in construction management engineering with a minor in political science. How purposeful was this choice and how has it guided your career?
A: I didn’t go to college to earn a specific degree as much as to get an education. I took classes that helped me understand the mechanics of the world and how I could effect change within it. That included everything from Astrophysics and Computer Programming to Geography and Economics. Sometimes the classes were related to my major and sometimes they weren't. I knew at some point though I would need to graduate with marketable enough skills that would allow me to build on the legacy of those who had invested a lot for me to get to college in the first place. I finally settled on Construction Management Engineering for the applied science skillset and Political Science for the policy context and understanding it provided.
Q: You recently commented about the importance of engaging and exposing all parts of the community to the creation of diverse economic growth and wealth building opportunities, adding “in so many ways diversity equals sustainability.” What are your thoughts of the current political climate where diversity, equity and inclusion is under attack and being banned from college campuses?
A: Every couple of decades, we seem to move from moderate to more extreme rhetoric when it comes to issues of acceptance and inclusion of people from different backgrounds, experiences or cultures. The hard work of reconciling persistent inequities and having an honest discourse that takes steps to bring people together can be exhausting. I think it’s human nature to want to know when something is finished and move on.
The issue I see is that moving on has the result of leaving a lot of people behind. Today we likely have more growth in wealth inequality than racial inequality, but we didn't really address the impact of decades of racial inequality as much as we just started removing the systems that propped it up. The growing wealth inequality still disproportionately impacts those previously impacted by racial inequality. At some point, the left behind are going to have to be reckoned with. That shows up in all kinds of ways but tends to look like domestic terrorism, civil unrest, and the decline of stability.
I have experienced those traumas up close and prefer the alternatives. We don’t have to agree about how we got here, but from an economic standpoint there are some clear takeaways. Growth of entrepreneurship and business activity benefits substantially from diversity of thought, perspective, experience and approach.
I think the phrase “diversity, equity, and inclusion” has been hijacked for political purposes that have little to do with the meaning of each of those words. Anyone who is serious about sustaining economic growth will be serious about supporting policies that don’t exclude the underrepresented or decrease the diversity of our community to our detriment.
Q: Your family has deep roots in Oklahoma City history and the days when their freedoms were curtailed by Jim Crow laws. How does this history shape your view of the state and the city?
A: My family history in Oklahoma is consistent with many Black families — it’s a story of participation and accomplishment alongside broken promises and disappointment. For most of Oklahoma City's existence, there have been structural barriers limiting opportunity that we have had to tear down. How much economic output was stifled by redlining or wasted on lawsuits to allow Black families to own homes north of 4th street? How much would wages have grown with equitable access to lending or education? It seems like we have learned from those lessons, and my view is that we are on the cusp of becoming a city that can finally fulfill its potential as a place of unrestricted opportunity for creators from various backgrounds looking to build the future right now.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sandino Thompson seeks to rebuild community for OKC's minorities
