On May 14-16, 2026, motorcycle riders across America gathered in Tulsa’s Greenwood District for the annual Black Wall Street Rally, which brings together clubs, riders, and families to “explore the rich history of Greenwood known as America’s original Black Wall Street,” according to the rally’s website.
Among them was Troy Williams-Holmes, a rider on his club’s annual “National Run” that brought him to Tulsa. His Harley-Davidson featured a custom paint job with portraits of people he described as “my heroes, the reason I can ride my bike.” The bike, he said, was coated in portraits of civil rights activists, serving as a “reminder of those who dedicated their lives for our struggle, and for those to come.”
He said that in 2023, he decided to get the paint job when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies. “Every time Black folks strive for equality, it’s criminalized,” he said. “Racism has not ended, it just evolved.” He was planning a coast-to-coast “National Run” with his club from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida, when he heard about Gov. DeSantis’ administration. He saw the trip as the perfect opportunity for people across the nation to ask him questions about it and help people understand that “what they think happened a long time ago was just yesterday.”
This year, Williams-Holmes’ club’s National Run was to the Black Wall Street Rally. “What better place for my bike to bring awareness?” he said.
Posing in front of his bike, an anonymous rider that was with Troy Williams-Holmes on many of his rides. Photo | Luke Smolen
