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
the mayo clinic said that dr. a.c. jackson was the most able negro surgeon in america. simon berry was a businessman. his first business was a jitney service. a.j. smitherman was the editor and publisher of the tulsa star. his paper included editorials and articles really talking about social justice. when you think about stratford, you think about what elegance and grace looks like. by the beginning of 1917, i had amassed quite a fortune. i own 15 rental houses, a 16-room brick apartment building. the rental value was $350 a month. the income from other sources were triple. i had a splendid bank account and was living on the sunny side of the street. i decided to realize my fondest hope, and that was to erect a large hotel in tulsa exclusively for my people.