Monday marks the 100th anniversary of one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history, the Tulsa Race Massacre. In 1921, a mob of white people tore down and burned the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Okla. — a segregated part of the city so prosperous and bustling, it was known as Black Wall Street. An estimated 300 people were killed within the district's 35 square blocks, burning to the ground more than 1,200 homes, at least 60 businesses, dozens of churches, a school, a hospital, and a public library. It is a terrible moment in American history and one that is not taught in many schools. If you don't know about the Tulsa Race Massacre, take the time to educate yourself and then share what you learn in age-appropriate ways with your children.
Here are helpful resources:
Blood on Black Wall Street: The Legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre. This documentary is from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine D. Lee.
Blood On Black Wall Street: The Legacy Of The Tulsa Race Massacre
The Tulsa Library has a variety of resources available online including The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial exhibit. The exhibit includes a timeline, photos, videos and interviews, and more. Click to access.
The mission of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission is to "educate Oklahomans and Americans about the Race Massacre and its impact on the state and Nation; remember its victims and survivors; and create an environment conducive to fostering sustainable entrepreneurship and heritage tourism within the Greenwood District specifically, and North Tulsa generally.” Their website offers a wealth of information including resources, events, lesson plans, and much more. Click to visit site.
Executive produced by NBA superstar and philanthropist Russell Westbrook, and directed by Peabody and Emmy-Award® winning director Stanley Nelson and Peabody and duPont-Award winner Marco Williams, Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history, and calls attention to the previously ignored but necessary repair of a town once devastated. To watch the documentary, click here.
NPR has a suggested list of books about The Tulsa Race Massacre. Suggestions include Tulsa, 1921 Reporting a Massacre by Randy Krehbiel; The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice by Scott Ellsworth; and for younger readers Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carol Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper. To see the full list, click here.