5 minute read
Race Massacre
Centennial
commemoration
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and several events have been scheduled to commemorate this important event in our history. Through music, art, lectures and community discussions, Tulsans will join together to remember. See all of the Tulsa World’s coverage at tulsaworld. com/racemassacre
>May 21-Oct. 10 Woody Guthrie Center, 102 E. Reconciliation Way woodyguthriecenter.org
A new Woody Guthrie center exhibit — “Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom” — will examine the role of music in informing and inspiring social consciousness throughout American history.
The exhibit, curated by the Grammy Museum, will feature musicians across decades and genres who used their art to push toward a more equitable world.
The exhibit will tell the story of Tulsa’s history of racial violence through the eyes and sounds of the upcoming Fire in Little Africa multimedia project, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Visitors will see lyrics and other memorabilia related to the project and learn how songs of conscience from Tulsa creators continue to chime the sounds of freedom.
John Hope Franklin symposium
>May 26-27 jhfnationalsymposium.org
The 12th Annual Reconciliation in America National Symposium, presented by the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, will be held May 26-29. The theme for this year’s event is “The Future of Tulsa’s Past: The Centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre and Beyond” and will feature a number of celebrated authors, educators and activists to discuss the Tulsa Race Massacre and how we as a community can work toward reconciliation.
Philbrook Museum of Art
>Through Sept. 5 2727 S. Rockford Road, philbrook.org
Philbrook is hosting two exhibits that explore the African-American experience. “From the Limitations of Now” is a landmark exhibit curated by Sara O’Keeffe, Nancy E. Meinig associate curator of modern and contemporary art, and developed in collaboration with exhibition partners The Black Wall Street Times, Fulton Street Books & Coffee and Tri-City Collective. The exhibition will span the museum’s Helmerich and historic Villa galleries, showcasing artworks that reflect on American history, honoring those who challenged racial violence across America and speculating on visions of a future still yet to be.
“Views of Greenwood” is a collection of photographs from three Tulsa artists — Don Thompson, Gaylord Herron and Eyakem Gulilat — that chronicle some 50 years of north Tulsa life.
The Black Wall Street Alliance is hosting a uniquely immersive exhibit, a timeline of local and national Black history made up of thousands of images, documents, collages and clothing displays titled “Faces of Greenwood Timeline Experience,” which occupies a hallway that runs behind the buildings and businesses that stretch from 100 N. Greenwood Ave. to 120 N. Greenwood Ave. The exhibit is open by appointment on Saturdays. To purchase tickets: eventbrite.com.
Tulsa library events
>Tulsa City-County Library, 918-549-7323, tulsalibrary.org
The Tulsa City-County Library will host a series of events through May that will explore the history and impact of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
The virtual programs will include author events, panel discussions and a curated exhibit titled “TCCL Remembers — Commemorating Tulsa’s Race Massacre with Education, Empathy and Healing,” all designed to educate and promote healing and empathy by increasing historical and political awareness of Tulsa’s history.
Some of the scheduled events are:
>April 8, “Unite Tulsa: Empathy, Education and Healing”:
Participants in the PechaKucha-style event will feature speakers sharing ways they’re working to make our community a better, more inclusive place to live. >April 22, “Fireside Chat With Author Robin DiAngelo”:
New York Times bestselling author Robin DiAngelo will discuss her book “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”
MICHAEL NOBLE JR., TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE A collage/painting by Skip Hill is part of the upcoming exhibit “From The Limitations of Now” at Philbrook Museum of Art.
>May 6, “Meet Author Jason Reynolds:
Winner of Tulsa Library Trust’s 2021 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature”: Jason Reynolds, the New York Times bestselling author of “All American Boys” and other works for young-adult and middle-grade audiences, will receive the Zarrow Award and speak about his life and works. The Zarrow Award is given annually by the Tulsa Library Trust.
>May 11, “Friendship Mattered Then! Friendship Matters Now! Presented by Clifton L. Taulbert”:
Taulbert, author of “Eight Habits of the Heart: Embracing the Values That Build Strong Communities,” will lead a presentation to commemorate the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre centennial.
>June 3-13 Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. tulsapac.com
Presented by World Stage Theatre Co., “Tulsa 21!” is an original production about the history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street.
The Centennial Commemoration
>May 26-June 6
Ten days of commemoration will pay homage to the martyrs of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and celebrate the resilience of the Greenwood spirit and the Black Wall Street mentality. Greenwood Film Festival
>June 4
A multi-theater event hosted by Tim Reid and Clifton Taulbert.
Black Wall Street Memorial Run
>June 5
The 5k and 10k runs will be held in honor of the official centennial commemoration festivities.
the moment
John Clanton Tulsa World Magazine Tulsa World Magazine
Soil is collected in a jar during a ceremony in honor of Reuben a ceremony in honor of Reuben Everett. The ceremony was held Everett. The ceremony was held near the site where Everett’s near the site where Everett’s home was located in 1921, when home was located in 1921, when he died in the Tulsa Race he died in the Tulsa Race Massacre. The site Massacre. The site is now where the is now where the Greenwood Rising Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street Black Wall Street History Center is History Center is being built. being built.
