28 Days of Black History: The Story of Prosperity and Resilience in Tulsa
During the early 1900s, Black communities thrived despite the ever-present reality of institutional racism in the United States. The Greenwood District, a neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was one of the wealthiest Black communities of the time, known as Black Wall Street.
A testament to Black entrepreneurship and creative ingenuity, Black Wall Street had everything one could envision in a thriving Black utopia. The neighborhood boasted nightclubs, hotels, cafés, newspapers, clothiers, movie theaters, doctors' and lawyers' offices, grocery stores, beauty salons, shoeshine shops, and restaurants. At its peak, the area was often compared to State Street in Chicago and Beale Street in Memphis.
But this self-sufficient community of Black empowerment was devastated overnight.
A 19-year-old Black shoe shiner named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a 21-year-old white elevator operator. The white community’s response to the allegations led to what is now known as the Tulsa Massacre.
Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob—sanctioned by city officials—violently attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses in the Greenwood District. The Tulsa Massacre is one of the worst instances of racial violence in American history. Reports indicate that the assailants burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood, causing over $50 million in losses. Around 10,000 Black residents were left homeless.
By the end of 1922, after rebuilding their community, Black Tulsans faced systemic racism, including redlining and the refusal of city officials and real estate companies to compensate them for their losses. Many survivors left Tulsa and remained silent about the terror for decades. For years, the massacre was largely omitted from the city’s historical narrative.
In his film Descended from the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street, Nailah Jefferson explores this tragic event and shares the inspiration behind his work.
"There were a lot of Black Wall Streets throughout the country. We often hear stories of desperation about the Black community and people saying we can't do this or that. But I think Black Wall Street is a perfect example of what we can do when left alone—when allowed to fully thrive and reach our potential," Jefferson said.
Randy Krehbiel, an investigative reporter for the Tulsa World, spent over two decades researching the details of racial terrorism for his book Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre. He highlighted how one of the most violent acts of racial terrorism in U.S. history was nearly erased.
"I started reading newspapers on microfilm, copying everything I could find related to the massacre—sometimes even things that weren’t directly related," Krehbiel told BET.com. "But I thought they revealed something about the times and that period in history. From there, I got names, started going through other documents, and talking to people. That became the foundation of my research."
A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the long-term impact of the massacre, revealing how thousands of Black residents were forced into prison camps and how the devastation still affects Black Americans today.
"Examining effects after 1940, we find that the direct negative effects of the massacre on Black Tulsans’ homeownership, along with spillover effects through newspaper coverage, persist and actually widen in the second half of the 20th century," the study states.
Efforts to commemorate the massacre and honor Black Wall Street continue. The concept of Sankofa, a Twi word from the Akan people of Ghana meaning "to retrieve" or "go back and get it," represents the importance of learning from the past to build a better future. The Greenwood Cultural Center, which showcases Greenwood’s heritage through pictorial exhibits, and the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, which memorializes the Tulsa Massacre and highlights the role of African Americans in building Oklahoma, serve as vital sites of remembrance and education.
Despite calls for justice and reparations from the massacre’s last few survivors, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City of Tulsa in June 2024. The plaintiffs included Viola Fletcher, 109, the oldest living survivor; her brother, Hughes Van Ellis, who passed away at 102 in October 2023; and Lessie Benningfield Randle.
"Judge Wall effectively condemned the three living Tulsa Race Massacre survivors to languish—genuinely to death—on Oklahoma’s appellate docket," the advocacy group Justice for Greenwood stated. "There is no semblance of justice or access to justice here."
The insurmountable losses suffered in the attack on Black Wall Street remain immeasurable. Yet, we must never forget that Black Americans—despite lacking many of the rights that some take for granted today—built an incredible community in Greenwood. It was one of the first "for us, by us" spaces where Black excellence was on full display.
Without question, that spirit of resilience and brilliance is still alive today. It is our collective responsibility to honor our history by living in a way that uplifts and continues the legacy of those who came before us.