In the 1920s, there was a Strong Black Community here in tulsa called greenwood. These people were the core of black entrepreneurship. People call it The Black Wall Street. Greenwood was like putting harlem, Bourbon Street, and Chocolate City all in one place. But White Tulsans talked about greenwood as Little Africa or [bleep] land. Tulsa was a powder keg, needing only something to set the community alight. Between 100 and 300 people, most of them black, were killed. Today we call it a massacre. They were hastily trying to get rid of the bodies by dumping them in mass graves around the city. We have tulsans of an undetermined number who were murdered. It should not have taken 99 years. Anybody who thinks that this crime scene is not going to speak doesnt have the ears to hear. The ancestors are awake and the earth is shaking. I came to tulsa when i was in the sixth grade. So thats been, whew, i dont know how many years. My mother is from oklahoma. There was a Strong Black Community in
black entrepreneurship. people call it the black wall street. like putting harlem, bourbon street, and chocolate city all in one place. but white paulsons talked about it as little africa or land. tulsa was a powder keg, needing only something to set the community alight. between 100 and 300 people, most of them black, were killed. today we call it a massacre. they were hastily trying to get rid of the bodies. by dumping them in mass graves around the city. we of tulsa of an undetermined number, it should have not taken any nine years. anyone who thinks this crime scene is not going to speak does not have the ears to hear. the earth is shaking. i came to tulsa when i was in the sixth grade, so that has been well, i don t know how many years. my mother is from oklahoma. and there was a strong black community in tulsa called greenwood. these people were the core of black entrepreneurship. and they would help you get your business started. 1920 greenwood was booming.
there s not a restroom facilities in the shine parlor. so the white owner has arranged for them to walk down main street to the drexel building. on the fourth floor, there was, quote, a colored restroom. something happens when he enters the elevator. elevators are manually operated by a wheel. it takes a great amount of skill to get the floor of the elevator and the actual floor to line up. that particular elevator was very difficult to center. so the belief is that sarah didn t quite have it level, that as dick walked onto the elevator, he tripped and just by reflex threw his hands out to cushion the fall, that he
people describe it as a massacre. i ve been calling it a war. there s systemic causes for what happened here in 1921. but we fixate on this trigger incident that involved a black boy and a white girl on an elevator. the teenage boy is a boy named dick rowan. he s at work on memorial day, shining shoes in downtown tulsa. dick rowland was 19 years old in the spring of 1921. he worked in a white-owned and white-patronized shine parlor on main street in downtown tulsa. his nickname is diamond dick, so he s known to be this flashy young guy. just another person in the community that everyone knows, but he s never been seen as a troublemaker.