Robert R.A. Turner (center) draws attention to the 1921 Tulsa massacre every week in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Courtesy photo)
On the first Wednesday in May, as the centennial of the Tulsa massacre approached, Robert R. A. Turner stood outside Tulsa City Hall with his megaphone, as he does every week.
“Tulsa, you will reap what you sow, and that which you have done unto the least of these my children, Jesus said, you have done also unto me,” said Turner, 38, the pastor of Historic Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church. “We come here to say, for your own benefit, you ought to do reparations not tomorrow, not even next week, not next month, not next year, but we demand reparations now!”
It is the only structure on North Greenwood Avenue that survived one of the worst race massacres in American history. During those 18 dreadful hours, people actually hid in the church s basement for