Get Chose!

On May 31st & June 1st, 94 years ago a prominent Black community was destroyed by an angry white mob who used the excuse that a young Black man attacked a white woman in an elevator. The allegations turned out to be untrue. In 1906, O.W. Gurley, a wealthy African-American from Arkansas, moved to Tulsa and purchased over 40 acres of land that he made sure was only sold to other African-Americans. The Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, housed one of the most successful Black economies in American history. The area is, now, commonly referred to as “The Black Wall Street.” Most of the businesses and homes were burned down in the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. When the community was burned down in the Tulsa Race Riot, over 800 people were admitted to surrounding hospitals, an estimated 10,000 were left homeless, 35 city blocks housing 1,256 residences were destroyed, and 600 successful businesses were lost, including 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, two movie theaters and a hospital. The Ku Klux Klan-led riot lasted for over 16 hours. Law enforcement aided whites in giving them guns. No one knows exactly how many bodies were buried after the riot burned down the city. “Many of the survivors mentioned bodies were stacked like cord wood,” says Richard Warner of the Tulsa Historical Society. Survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot have never received reparations. This 94th Anniversary we will remember Black Wall Street with a twitter storm. Growing up I was never taught about Black Wall Street. Like most Black children, the only thing I learned in history pertaining to Black people was slavery, Civil Rights era and Jim Crow. Never the success of this community or the destrcution at the hands of the KKK.That is all the history Black children hear about when in school. The goals of the twitter storm is: Highlight the achievements of the Black people coming out of slavery who reached a commendable economic achievement. Bring light to a part of history that is rarely,if at all taught in school. Let the world know that survivors still have not received reparations. Remember those that lost their lives 94 years ago today. Men, women and children who were murdered.