‘To Teach The Truth’: Greenwood Rising Days Away From Opening Doors To The Public
The Greenwood Rising Museum is just days away from opening its doors to the public.
Members of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission said the museum will impact the City of Tulsa for decades to come.
The story of The Race Massacre is not the only story of Greenwood. There was glory here, a thriving community full of businesses, and homes; and after the massacre, Greenwood rose again, and again and again.
The story of Greenwood is a story of resurrection and Greenwood Rising tells that story, starting with an entry video.
It s actually accomplishing what we always started out wanting to do, that this would not just be what some would refer to as a one-and-done, or a Kumbaya moment where OK, we sang, we held hands, now everybody go back home. This is a commemorative year . even into the fall with Tulsa Ballet doing a full production and bringing African American artists and dancers from New York and an African American choreographer for a full production about the history of Greenwood, said Phil Armstrong, project director for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. This is the beginning. This is not just a time when we do this and never talk about it again. This is a launchpad: Every year we are going to look forward to commemorating and having some type of event that remembers and honors this history.
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FC Tulsa coach Michael Nsien (left) and defenders Bradley Bourgeois and Kevin Garcia model the team s 2021 jerseys featuring the Greenwood Ave. patch.
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Tulsa’s pro soccer team will wear patches celebrating Greenwood’s history and future this season.
FC Tulsa announced Tuesday all its 2021 jerseys will feature the brand for Greenwood Ave., a project local artist Trey Thaxton created to highlight hundreds of Black Wall Street businesses. He redesigns early 20th Century businesses signs and logos for apparel and art. So, it’s important for everybody to understand that Greenwood is not just Black history. It’s American history. So, with this platform, I hope that everybody can understand what Greenwood represented, why it happened, and learn from it so that doesn’t happen again, and we can all be better together, Thaxton said in a video distributed by the team.