Emotional Photos Show How Tulsa Is Marking 100 Years Since A Massacre

Vigils, parades, murals, and ceremonies are trying to educate the public and acknowledge the long-standing pain — both emotional and physical — from a century ago.

Residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma, are this week marking the centennial of the 1921 Greenwood massacre with dozens of events. That includes a visit on Tuesday from President Joe Biden, who is set to meet with the three known survivors of the atrocity.

As many as 300 Black people were killed by a white mob, including National Guard soldiers and other members of law enforcement, during the infamous Tulsa massacre. The violence caused the destruction of the city's Greenwood neighborhood, a prosperous area that was known at the time as Black Wall Street.

No one was held accountable, and the massacre was not officially acknowledged, even within the city, for decades. But recently, Tulsa has started to grapple with its violent past, with two museums dedicated to documenting the history of Greenwood and memorials for those killed.

Many, including a local pastor of the only church that survived the massacre, are calling for reparations for the survivors and their descendants to restore the wealth that was destroyed.

Vigils, parades, murals, and ceremonies are attempting to educate the public and acknowledge the long-standing pain — both emotional and physical — from a century ago.


A man and young boy look at a mural showing a Black woman carrying a Black man amid flaming ruins
A man prays at an altar with his head in his hands
An older Black man and two older Black man wave as they sit in the back of a carriage
A man with the word endure on his mask and a woman with the word hope written on tape across her mouth



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