Oklahoman
With the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre less than a month away, one of the organizers of the city s official commemoration is amazed by the way the centennial is coming together and bringing communities together. There s not a sector or industry in Tulsa that has not stepped in either with checks and resources monetarily or with people or with volunteers. There s not one aspect of our city not being impacted right now . and this is not a Tulsa thing. This is an Oklahoma thing.
The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked, set aflame and ultimately devastated the Greenwood District, which was at that time one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States, earning it the name Black Wall Street.
When Rilla Askew first read one of Joy Harjoâs poems in 1989 as she sat in a motel in St. Louis, she was stunned by the power of her words.Â
âI just kind of fell back on the bed,â Askew said. âI was so knocked out by the power of it, by the beauty of it, by the pain, and by the honesty and by the things that I recognized that were so particularly Oklahoma and so particularly Native.âÂ
Harjoâs poems, which were featured in âOklahoma Indian Markings,â the spring 1989 edition of the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, alongside some of Askewâs work, were written toward the beginning of Harjoâs career as her poetry received increasing acclaim, Askew said.  Â
OPSU Hosts Author, Rilla Askew Panhandle State Communications on 04/16/2021 Rilla Askew
Rilla Askew is an American novelist and short story writer who was born in Poteau, in the Sans Bois Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma, and grew up in the town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Askew graduated from the University of Tulsa with a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance in 1980. She moved then to New York where she studied acting. She began writing plays first, then fiction with her theatre background supporting the use of language and rhythm in her works. She went on to study creative writing at Brooklyn College, where she received her MFA in 1989. Rilla has taught in MFA writing programs at Syracuse University, Brooklyn College, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Oklahoma.
In conjunction with the OU Presidential Dream Course âThe Tulsa Race Massacre: 100 Years Later,â OU is hosting a virtual poetry reading titled âPoet as Witnessâ at 7 p.m. on April 15.
The reading will feature Quraysh Ali Lansana, an American poet and activist, who will read his âpoems, short stories, and anecdotes exploring the Black American experience,â according to the eventâs flyer. The works featured in the reading âfocus on the struggles and triumphs of Black Oklahomans of the past and present.âÂ
Rilla Askew, associate professor in the Department of English and co-professor of the Presidential Dream Course, said Lansana is an excellent reader, and that one of the most important parts of the experience is hearing the poetry spoken.
7 min to read
Lessie Benningfield Randle was just 6 when she watched her home town go up in flames. Now at 106, her testimony may make way for reparations to be paid.
On May 31, 1921, an angry mob of white Tulsans stormed the prosperous Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After the massacre, the people of Greenwood rebuilt the town without any financial assistance from the City of Tulsa.
Randle, known as âMother Randleâ to the Justice for Greenwood Foundation â a group that advocates for reparations to be paid to the massacre survivors and descendants â stated in the February lawsuit that the events of the massacre have caused her to experience âemotional and physical distress that continues to this day.â The lawsuit also states that Tulsa government officials are âenriching themselves by promoting the site of the massacre as a tourist attraction.â