Remaining Tulsa Race Massacre survivors receive $300K gift

Remaining Tulsa race massacre survivors have started to see some sort of justice.

Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will be gifted $100,000 each from the Justice for Greenwood Foundation.

Tulsa race massacre survivors receive gift

Viola Fletcher, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Hughes Van Ellis are the three recipients of the gift according to a press release.

“This gift for the survivors of the Tulsa massacre shows that we have the power to demand justice for Black communities in Tulsa and all across the country,” said Damario Solomon Simmons, founder and executive director of Justice for Greenwood Foundation.

The gift comes as Tulsa Race Massacre survivors and community members for decades have called for justice, acknowledgement, and reparations for the Tulsa Race Massacre.

“I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street, I still smell smoke and see fire,” Viola Fletcher testified. “I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day.”

The 107-year-old said she can never forget this history as she testified on her first-time visit to Washington, D.C.

“We live this history and we can’t ignore it,” Fletcher said. “We lost everything that day, our homes, our churches, our newspapers, our theaters, our lives.”

The racial massacre

Between May 31, and June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked Black residents living in Tulsa’s Greenwood District. Nearly 300 Black people were killed, thousands injured, and many businesses destroyed.

Greenwood was one of the richest Black communities in the United States. It was often referred as The Black Wall Street.

Justice for Greenwood Foundation supporters, Color Of Change members and fundraising efforts nationwide contributed to the gifts awarded to the survivors.

Organizers say the gift is a step towards justice. They hope it can provide some alleviation for the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors.

“We are immensely proud to play our role in rectifying these injustices,” Solomon Simmons said. “Nothing can undo the immense pain inflicted upon the remaining survivors of the massacre, but alleviating their current financial burdens inflicted not only by the massacre itself but subsequent systemic racism is the least we could do for them as we continue to push for reparations. Now, we must work to ensure their stories are told, confronting our past and learning from it, to ensure we actively challenge enduring injustices.”

Leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Color Of Change launched a campaign to “hold the city of Tulsa accountable for their failure to address one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.”

More than 20,000 people have signed on in support.