On May 31st, 1921, an affluent Black community was attacked by a racist white mob stemming from a false rape accusation by a white woman against a young Black man named Dick Rowland. An underestimated 300 deaths of Black men, women, and children resulted along with the destruction of the Greenwood District community which was born on tribal land as reparations for Black folks taken as slaves by Native Americans. Rising from the ashes, Greenwood rebuilt. But, the heavy hand of integration scattered Black dollars and later, a highway was rammed right through the community. Today, there are three survivors 100+yrs old, Lessie Benningfield Randle and siblings Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis, who are finally getting their due respect during the centennial anniversary of the massacre.

As a direct descendant of Greenwood District, Tulsa via my grandfather’s survival of the massacre, I drove into town for a week long celebration of events in conjunction with Memorial Day, a historically Black holiday. No, I did not attend the President Biden visit at the Greenwood Cultural Center. Swarms of press unnerve me. I’ll post pictures here as the events unfold throughout the week, but please check PF Broadcasting because more detailed thoughts and experiences may be published there soon! All photos by me unless otherwise stated.

Here are a few resources and photographs I found:

The Black Wall Street Times, Photographs by Christopher Creese

Indian Country Today with statements by activist and Greenwood descendant Kristi Williams

HuffPost by Tayrn Finley

Social Media Thread by Derrick Wilmore Jr.

Smithsonian Mag with artwork by Aaron R. Turner

National Endowment for the Humanities by Thabiti Lewis and Kweku Larry Crowe

Survivor’s testimonies