Lecester “Bill” Allen dreamt of making south DeKalb County a retail hub for Black entrepreneurs.
The doors of his New Black Wall Street Market opened in 2021, the market’s name a nod to the historic Greenwood community in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was destroyed in a race massacre a century earlier. Allen envisioned the Stonecrest retail district becoming a model for a new generation of Black-owned businesses.
Ideas like that made Allen, who died Saturday after a long illness, a “once-in-a-generation trailblazer,” New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Jamal Bryant said.
“Aside from his obvious success in business, Mr. Allen was rich in wisdom and humility,” Bryant said in a statement. “He had a deep love for our people and truly committed himself to the empowerment of Black families and communities through education and wealth-creation.”
Allen, 80, was an Arkansas native who made his career in real estate and daycare management. He moved to south DeKalb about 25 years ago and became the largest commercial landowner in the City of Stonecrest.
He also founded the Allen Entrepreneurial Institute, a professional training and coaching organization to support Black business owners.
A full news obituary is forthcoming.
