Now that knowledge of the Tulsa Race Massacre has entered public consciousness after a century of whitewashing the violence, Crutcher is “relieved that people are starting to pay attention.” But for her and the community in Tulsa, “just knowing is not enough.”

She described Tulsa today as “a tale of two cities” pointing to the continual racial disparities in food access, education opportunities, infrastructure and even life expectancy — 11 years less for Black children — as you cross the railroad tracks that continue to separate the Black and white communities of the city. The city is still “dealing with the effects of the residual harm that the massacre created 100 years ago.”

Even though knowledge of the massacre has become more widespread, more work is needed, Crutcher argues. “Who’s telling our story, who’s benefiting from our story, and who’s missing from our story?” she asks, pointing to gentrifiers occupying the former Black Wall Street neighborhood as the descendants of the massacre’s victims live in poverty and hardship across the tracks.

“It’s not enough to be knowledgeable about a situation,” Crutcher says. Instead, the larger public must “translate this knowledge into power and action and stand in solidarity with the Black community” to demand justice and repair for the enduring legacy of racism and violence. “Once you know, you owe.”

To reclaim control over the story of Greenwood, Crutcher has organized the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival to “share that knowledge and impart it into our future generations.” The festival, Crutcher told Blavity, is important for ensuring that “our Black youth know that they come from greatness, that they know that there were people who thrived in the days of Jim Crow, who built something amazing.” She describes the festival, which will occur later this month, as “a platform for us to center the survivors and the descendants and the people who were impacted by what happened here in Tulsa 100 years ago.”

Tiffany-Crutcher

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