The Tulsa community welcomed the Greenwood Rising history center. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission raised $30 million, and $18.2 million was spent on the new history center, the main focus of the commission.
As Americans' rage over racial injustice boils over into protests, the Commission hopes to bridge the gaps between the past and the present and facilitate change.
Over the past few months Phil Armstrong, project director, asked several North Tulsa Black residents to share their recollections of Greenwood—some sharing of their family’s memories of the Massacre alongside their joyful childhoods in bustling Greenwood from the 1920s-1960s.
We believe strongly in reparations. Our focus is on the larger scope of reparations, which means repairing past damages and making amends through acknowledgment, apology, and atonement. This process is central to racial reconciliation in Tulsa.
“This is not the time where people just come together and sing ‘Kumbaya’ and shake hands and move along…This is the beginning of a 3-year, 5-year, 20-year process where race relations move forward.”
The dedication of Greenwood Rising may coincide with the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, but the brand new history center will give visitors a broader view of what came before and after and also what is still possible in the future.
Hundreds of people gathered at Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street at 10:30 p.m. Monday to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in the same location. Despite the steady rainfall, candles were lit to honor the victims of the violence, including the survivors and the descendants.
A century after it somehow survived the burning and destruction all around it, one of the basement walls at Tulsa’s Vernon AME Church has been given a new future and a new purpose. As part of commemoration activities, Monday for the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, members of the historic church and the community came together to officially dedicate Vernon’s Prayer Wall of Racial Healing.
Hear from community leaders and advocates about their understanding of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the impact of not being told or taught about this history. Racial Healing starts with truth-telling. Greenwood Rising History Center paves the way to help heal communities and start the journey to Racial Reconciliation.
This incredible video project led by our community partner OCCJ (Oklahoma Center for Community & Justice).
This initiative was led by Sandi Cox with video producer Blake Studdard of Atriacreative (http://www.atriacreative.co/).
We are so grateful to Executive Director Moises Eschiveria for his unwavering support and allyship of this work.
The projects of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission will educate Oklahomans and Americans about the Race Massacre and its impact on the state and Nation; remember its victims and survivors; and create an environment conducive to fostering sustainable entrepreneurship and heritage tourism within the Greenwood District specifically, and North Tulsa generally.
We believe strongly in reparations. Our focus is on the larger scope of reparations, which means repairing past damages and making amends through acknowledgment, apology, and atonement. This process is central to racial reconciliation in Tulsa.
The Commission reflects bi partisan representation from all levels of government and all sectors of the City of Tulsa. We hope to serve as a model for the city, state, and nation by demonstrating unity across racial, religious, and political boundaries and proving that differences create opportunities to learn, build, and work with one another.
Greenwood Rising, the new history center in the Greenwood District being built by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission will be built on land located at the entrance of Greenwood, connected to the Pathway to Hope.
The Greenwood Art Project is a Public Art Challenge funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The $1 million grant will fund a public art project and urban planning process that aims to fuel the economic and cultural revitalization of the Greenwood District.
With recommendations by the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, in conjunction with descendants of victims and survivors of the violence, the Oklahoma State Department of Education has developed a curriculum plan for teaching students statewide about the events surrounding the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
The Commission is diligently working to organize events in the Greenwood District to celebrate culture throughout the year leading up to Remember & Rise - the May 2021 Commemoration Event. These events will honor the victims, educate Tulsans and the world about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and show unity across races.
The Commission announced seeks to attract and help sustain additional businesses to the Greenwood District by developing initiatives to recruit and retain minority-owned businesses, partnering with both the existing Greenwood District businesses and funders to provide start-up capital for new businesses, as well as establishing programs to incentivize minority business owners who are interested in relocating their business to the Greenwood District.
What will the Greenwood District become after the Centennial Celebration? The Greenwood Beyond Grassroots Campaign is working to raise $1,000,000 from local small businesses and community members to continue to legacy. These ongoing efforts will set the foundation of sustainability for the Historic Greenwood District beyond 2021.
Economic Empowerment Day is co-hosted by Chris Gardner
Author of critically acclaimed "Pursuit of Happyness",
Entrepreneur, Single Parent, Speaker and Philanthropist.
The Greenwood Art Project is an initiative of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre Centennial Commission. Its purpose is to add a cultural component to the many activities and programs the Centennial Commission will host during the centennial year.
The goal of the Greenwood Art Project is to be a catalyst for uniting the city of Tulsa by working with artists, residents, leaders, organizations, and businesses to elevate awareness of Greenwood’s history, focusing on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the once-thriving Black Wall Street.
The Greenwood Art Project strives to create art that activates the community towards healing from our history, rebuilding, and re-cultivating Greenwood Avenue in the most beautiful and authentic way.
Your contribution is critical to our efforts of the Commission. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Fund is administered as a donor-designated fund established for the charitable purpose of community and educational programs and outreach. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and do not represent payment for goods or services received.
To send a donation by check, please mail to:
Tulsa Community Foundation
ATTN: 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Fund
7030 South Yale, Suite 600
Tulsa, OK 74136
Here is additional information about donations. Sponsor an individual campaign.
