Hundreds gather for vigil to honor Tulsa Race Massacre

Songs of praise and a chorus of rain echoed through the buildings of the Greenwood District on Monday night, exactly 100 years after a violent storm of bullets and destruction tore through the area.

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 survivors and descendants.

“I’m here because I felt the need to honor the ancestors of the Greenwood District, and in honoring them, I believe I’m honoring the descendants, as well,” said Lana Turner-Addison, president and chair of the North Tulsa Economic Development Initiative. “The foundation they’ve laid here in Tulsa is actually a strong one that lets us know that anything we seek to accomplish we can, despite any obstacles that are put in our way as African-Americans.”

For many, it was a bittersweet occasion honoring the pride that came from Greenwood, while also paying respect to potentially up to 300 lives lost in the massacre.

Ndege Webster, who came to the vigil from California, said he hopes to make the trip to Tulsa yearly to remember the Greenwood from 100 years ago.

“Two conflicting emotions: very proud of what indigenous and Black people have done here in the Greenwood area of Tulsa historically,” Webster said. “For them to build what they did, I have nothing but serious pride. The second emotion is to acknowledge the people who lost their lives. I’m here to honor those people.”

Webster said this event, in which people of all races, ages and genders came together, shared umbrellas and lit candles, is symbolic of what could be for the community in Tulsa.

“I think there are conscious people in every race, every gender, and those people understand we need to make a change in this world,” Webster said. “The world cannot continue to be divisive. Wrongs have to be made right. They can’t be ignored. They can’t be covered up. Light has to be shone on every moment, even when it’s wrong.”

Turner-Addison said the centennial of the massacre provides an opportunity for people to move forward and that she hopes people in the Greenwood and larger north Tulsa community can be inspired by what the massacre survivors and descendants have overcome.

“Too often, many African Americans have had experiences of racism — myself included — and for some it seems just hopeless like things will not change,” she said. “But this symbolism, the 100-year anniversary, reminds us that no matter what obstacles, you can get up. You can achieve, and you can be prosperous.”

She said building up the prosperity of north Tulsa and the Greenwood District is important, and she said the work being done will build a better future for the community.

Some events marking the centennial have been seen by some as just marketing and stunts to make the city looker better than it is and not beneficial to the actual Greenwood community. But Turner-Addison hopes the vigil can be more than that and inspire change in Tulsa.

“I just hope this is not what others have said — just an event, just acknowledging the 100 years and then we go back to normal,” she said. “That can’t happen.

“This event provides an opportunity for all races to come together and unite around a common cause, addressing a wrong that was done 100 years ago and moving forward to build brighter futures for everyone here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.”