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For this Black Wall Street business, it's time to "pass the torch on to another entrepreneur"

Mar 11, 2024
Venita Cooper made the decision to sell her sneaker store, Silhouette Sneakers & Art. "There's a certain type of person that it was important to me that they would take over Silhouette," said Cooper. "And to me, it's someone from Tulsa, from North Tulsa, who has roots here."
After five years, Venita Cooper (right) has announced she's selling her Black Wall Street sneaker store to Kellen James (left), a third-generation Tulsan.
Courtesy Venita Cooper

On Tulsa's Black Wall Street, shop owner finds inspiration in local sports history

Jun 15, 2023
Venita Cooper, owner of Silhouette Sneakers & Art, recently released an apparel line inspired by the Tulsa Fast Breakers.
A mural pays tribute to the Greenwood district's onetime identity as Black Wall Street.
Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images

A sneakers store builds a bridge where Black Wall Street once stood

Dec 15, 2022
Venita Cooper says Silhouette Sneakers & Art is "destination retail." But the store is helped by tourists visiting the historic site.
"We have a very fraught history of separation and division," Venita Cooper says. "Sneakers is one of those things that really brings people together."
Courtesy Gary Mason