(ThyBlackMan.com) There are many events in history that mark the trauma of a people. The Tulsa Massacre stands out in the minds of black people as a heartbreak that not only killed our people, but it would instill a fear of progress that some of our people are still fighting to overcome. Reading about this horrific evil against our people is gut-wrenching but one an only imagine witnessing the horror.
“But I came not to Tulsa as many came, lured by the dream of making money and bettering myself in the financial world, but because of the wonderful co-operation I observed among out people, and especially the harmony of spirit and action that existed between the business men and women.”
Mary E. Jones Parrish gives us a first hand account of that filling in the book, “The Nation Must Awake”. She recounts the experience of having to gather her child and run for refuge. She witnessed her neighbors, friends, and people she knew flee, try to fight for what the people had built…and many of them would die. She watched her community burn for no other reason than hatred.
“A Colored boy accidentally stepped on a white elevator girl’s foot. An evening paper hurled the news broadcast, with the usual “Lynching is feared if the victim is caught.” Then the flames of hatred which has been brewing for years broke loose.”
The excuse for destroying black people and their communities has always been the sanctity, or protection, of white women. It has been the great lie told, and the biggest smoke screen to destroy life. Imagine the terror of knowing someone(s) wanted to lynch you because you accidently stepped on a foot. Reading this account is necessary, but very difficult.
“I did not take time to get a hat for myself or baby, but started out north on Greenwood, running amidst showers of bullets from the machine gun located in the granary and from men who quickly surrounded our district. Seeing that they were fighting at a disadvantage our men had taken shelter on the building and other places out of site of the enemy.”
It is important to remember that yes this is history, but it has an impact on the financial picture of Tulsa now. The community is still trying to bounce back from this injustice that happened in 1921. Reading this first hand account will make the history real to the reader. It doesn’t read like history…it reads like right now. This is important for those who would seek to simply brand this as the past stating we as a people need to move on.
“African Americans clearly did not accept the social circumstance that hindered them, but they were pragmatic in facing and addressing the situation as it was.”
I deeply urge our people to read this book. Read it with your children and answer their questions about race and how it relates to the present. This book is a good rallying point to discuss fear of building, owning, success, and striving in America…even as we see it happening. It is also a good starting point for looking into similar events whereby our homes and businesses are destroyed and out people are displaced. This has a deep lasting effect on community and family ties…and can open the door to gentrification. This book is a starting place to various needed discussions. There is still so much that we can learn from those who witnessed the terror this country unleased upon our people.
“The Nation Must Awake” can be found at your local bookstore, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.