Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission To Honor Lives Lost With Candlelight Vigil
On Monday, the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission will host a candlelight vigil to honor those lost in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
This public ceremony will take place on the streets of Greenwood, Elgin and Archer downtown.
People are encouraged to hold a candle or similar light source and take a moment of silence to reflect on the massacre.
Organizers are asking participants to make a personal commitment to racial healing and reconciliation. They want others around the world to see the event, so they are asking people to take a picture of themselves participating.
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Buildings were destroyed in a massive fire during the Tulsa Race Massacre when a white mob attacked the Greenwood neighborhood, a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Okla., in 1921. Eyewitnesses recalled the specter of men carrying torches through the streets to set fire to homes and businesses.
Survivors and their descendants say facing the truth about the Tulsa Race Massacre is essential in the nation s struggle to confront racial injustice and violence against Black people.
It s been 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. An armed white mob attacked Greenwood, a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Okla., killing as many as 300 people. What was known as Black Wall Street was burned to the ground.
Hundreds gathered Monday for an interfaith service dedicating a prayer wall outside historic Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood on the centennial of the first day of one of the deadliest racist massacres in the nation.