1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

An online store that pays homage to Black Wall Street is open for a limited brick-and-mortar run, and it’s trying to raise the profile of other local, Black-owned brands, too.

Researchers said Tuesday that they have now uncovered 15 more burials in an Oaklawn Cemetery mass grave since an October test excavation revealed 12 in their search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims, bringing the total to 27 presumed sets of remains with still more "very likely" to be discovered.

"We were able to then come back today and actually initiate the process of excavation on some of the individual burials," Dr. Kary Stackelbeck, Oklahoma's state archaeologist, said during a press briefing at the Tulsa Fire Museum adjacent to the cemetery.

With the national spotlight off Tulsa following substantial media coverage of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre centennial anniversary and President Joe Biden's visit to Greenwood to commemorate it, advocates for reparations for survivors and descendants say they aren't going anywhere.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Crews searching a Tulsa cemetery for victims of the 1921 Race Massacrefound five more coffins on Thursday, bringing to 20 the number of coffins found at a mass-grave feature there, city officials said Thursday.

The Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor representing the district that includes much of the historic Greenwood neighborhood destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre says he believes reparations are due to the attack's survivors and descendants.

Councilor Joe Deere welcomed attendees of the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival's main event on Sunday at the Oklahoma State University - Tulsa campus to the Cherokee Nation reservation.

Updated June 3, 10:10 a.m. to reflect Councilor Kara Joy McKee's response to Greg Robinson during the meeting.

Tulsa City Councilors are set to consider a resolution Wednesday to apologize and commit to making tangible amends for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and for discriminatory policies that followed and caused further harm to north Tulsa.

That work includes setting up a process for the community to develop recommendations to aid reconciliation. 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday became the first sitting president to visit Tulsa to commemorate the Tulsa Race Massacre, arguably the worst racist attack in American history.

White mobs, many deputized and armed by local officials, burned the Black community of Greenwood to the ground May 31 and June 1, 1921. They killed as many as 300 residents and took thousands more to internment camps.

On the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, light rain didn’t stop hundreds from paying their respects at a candlelight vigil.  

State Sen. Kevin Matthews, chair of the commission that organized the vigil, explained the significance of the 10:30 p.m. start time.

"10:30 was when the violence started," Matthews said. "We're going to go from 10:30 to 10:40, that first ten minutes of that terrible violence right here in the Greenwood area 100 years ago."

The Oklahoma National Guard's first Black commander apologized Monday for their role in the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Speaking at a soil collection ceremony to memorialize unknown victims of the massacre, Adjutant Gen. Michael Thompson said he's proud of the uniform he's worn for 37 years, but 100 years ago wasn't the guard's proudest day.

Thompson took a moment to regain his composure before continuing.

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation Monday honoring the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre 100 years later and vowing to work toward undoing systemic racism in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several documentary filmmakers — some backed by NBA superstars — are shedding light on the historically ignored Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the most horrific tragedies in American history. 

At a luncheon today, Damario Solomon-Simmons, attorney for the three living survivors, said the nonprofit Justice for Greenwood will give each survivor payments as gifts.

"I'm excited to announce that a little bitty grassroot community north side organization will be granting a gift of $100,000 for each survivor," said Solomon-Simmons.

Solomon-Simmons is the founder of Justice for Greenwood. One of the organization's primary focuses is to gain reparations for massacre survivors and descendants. 

When the smoke cleared in June 1921, the toll from the massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was catastrophic — scores of lives lost, homes and businesses burned to the ground, a thriving Black community gutted by a white mob.

The nightmare cried out for attention, as something to be investigated and memorialized, with speeches and statues and anniversary commemorations.

The Tulsa City Council announced Friday it would consider a resolution at its upcoming Wednesday meeting that would formally apologize for the past and ongoing harms caused by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and launch a process to evaluate recommendations included in a 2001 state report that included an endorsement of reparation payments. 

One of the preeminent scholars of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre said Thursday that reparations for survivors and descendants are undeniably necessary.

"The fact of the matter is, without a doubt, the three remaining survivors of the massacre and the descendants of any and all survivors of the massacre deserve some form of financial restitution for what happened to them and their family in 1921," historian Scott Ellsworth said near the end of an address given as part of the John Hope Franklin National Symposium.

This story was updated at 5:28 a.m. on Friday, May 28, to add comments from Centennial Commission project director Phil Armstrong.  

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission announced late Thursday it has canceled Monday's "Remember + Rise" commemoration event.

The event was to be nationally televised from ONEOK Field, featuring award-winning musician John Legend and politician, lawyer and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

The Greenwood Art Project had a public unveiling today as it continues to highlight artwork made in recognition of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Posters were on display at a site called "Steps to Nowhere." The area used to be a neighboorhood but is now empty. 

GAP features over 25 artists who want to add some culture to events in the coming days.

Lead artist Rick Lowe said a mix of pieces over a span of days was decided on to provoke dialogue.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum says he is not spending much time thinking about the international media coverage of the upcoming Tulsa Race Massacre centennial events, instead focusing on what the anniversary means for Tulsans.

"I think about this event like when you're mourning as a family when you have the death of a loved one," Bynum said in a video message released Tuesday by City Hall. "You're really just concerned about your family and your friends and your neighbors. What people on the periphery have to say about it is of less importance."

With mounting global attention on Tulsa and the myriad events planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, reparations advocates have launched a phone hotline for descendants of massacre survivors and victims to call and tell their stories.

"I know there's thousands and thousands of more descendants across the world and across the nation," said DJ Mercer, descendant coordinator at the Justice For Greenwood Foundation, which opened the hotline last week.

President Joe Biden will travel to Tulsa next Tuesday, June 1, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the White House announced.

Details on the visit were not immediately available, the White House said.

"We are grateful that President Biden will join in the centennial commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre," Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a statement. "His visit honors our neighbors who were killed in this city’s worst moment and the work being done to build a better Tulsa for future generations.”