At 107 and 106, SuperHeroines 'have waited too long’ for justice in Oklahoma
Nita Wiggins
Author, U.S. politics commentator and essayist, university lecturer on "How African American Women Affect Policy: From Truman to the 2024 Election"
(PARIS) SuperHeroines Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle continue to call for "Respect, Reparations, and Repair for the Greenwood community?* for gun attacks and intentional fires set more than 100 years old. They both survived the race-based massacre in which their neighbors and some family friends perished in May 1921 in Greenwood / Tulsa, Oklahoma. Additionally, they have waited nearly two more years since they testified to Congress about the attacks.
"On May 31, in ’21 [1921], I went to bed in my family home in Greenwood (Tulsa, Oklahoma, area). I felt safe and had everything a child could need. I had a bright future ahead of me. Greenwood had given me the chance to truly make it in this country.?
In a few hours, all of that was gone."
'Mother' Fletcher, 107 years old (in May 2021) described for a Congressional subcommittee the end of her idyllic American life.?
To find out more, [email protected].
She continued:
I still see black men being shot, black bodies in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day.?
The chamber (City of Tulsa Chamber of Commerce) helped ensure that we could not rebuild after the massacre, including holding us in the internment camps.?
They owe us something. They owe me something.?
I have lived much of my life poor. My opportunities were taken from me and my community, North Tulsa."?
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Tulsa Race Massacre occurred nearly 102 years ago
At 106 years old in May 2021, 'Mother’ Randle said to the Congressional subcommittee: ?
"I have survived 100 years of painful losses. I have survived to tell this story. Hopefully, now you all will listen to us while we are still here.?
It seems like justice in America is always so slow or not possible for black people. There are always so many excuses for why justice is so slow or never happens at all. I am here today, 106 years old, looking at you all in the eye. We have waited too long, and I am tired.??
"One hundred years ago, […] I was a young child and I felt very safe. My community was beautiful. It was filled with successful black people. Then, everything changed; it was like a war. White men with guns came and destroyed my community. We couldn’t understand why. […] But they came and they destroyed everything."
‘Mother’ Randle, 'Mother' Fletcher, and World War II combat veteran Hughes Van Ellis (all pictured above) are three known survivors and witnesses of 1921's Greenwood/Tulsa Race Massacre. I have transcribed portions of their sworn statements to Congress and provided them in the Endnotes of my Civil Rights Baby: My Story of Race, Sports, and Breaking Barriers in American Journalism. Find out more, here.
What is GREENWOOD??
JusticeForGreenwood.org explains:?
Greenwood, most revered for “Black Wall Street” was co-founded by Black Creeks—it became one of the most prosperous, organized, and successful Black communities in United States history, and a place for Black people to escape the political, economic, and social oppression of southern lawmakers post civil war.?
Interested in donating? Or, to ask other questions for the Justice for Greenwood team? Click?here.?
Email:?[email protected]?
* This language comes from the Justice for Greenwood non-profit organization.
Nita Wiggins is an author, speaker, and journalism instructor in Paris, France. In her memoir, Civil Rights Baby: My Story of Race, Sports, and Breaking Barriers in American Journalism, she has transcribed and included large portions of the congressional testimonies of the Greenwood survivors in the Endnotes. Purchasing info for the print and e-book can be found here. More at www.NitaWiggins.com