The history of racist violence and injustice surrounding Tulsa’s Greenwood District marks a painful chapter from Tulsa’s past that continues to resonate to the present day. Dubbed “Black Wall Street” in the early twentieth century, the community was the focus of murderous attacks and arson in the late spring of 1921 which left much of the thriving community in ashes. Descendants of the families subjected to those attacks have spent over a century seeking to have their story heard and to find some kind of justice for the incredible losses they and their families have suffered.
On June 14, 2024, the National Humanities Center invited two members of the Greenwood community who have actively worked to preserve that history and secure justice for descendants, Chief Egunwale Amusan and Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, to sit down with journalist David Folkenflik for a public conversation hosted by the Greenwood Cultural Center.
Chief Egunwale Amusan, a descendant of three survivors of the Tulsa Massacre, is the author of America’s Black Wall Street: The Untold Story of Broken Treaties, Black Resistance, Political Fear, and Sacred Ground. He is also executive producer of the documentary Oaklawn, which examines the investigation into the mass graves of Massacre victims. He appeared as a featured expert on the WNYC podcast “Blindspot (Tulsa Burning)” and in the Emmy award-winning documentary Dreamland. He has also been featured in Essence magazine, which recognized him for his social entrepreneurship and the change he has affected through creating his company, Real Black Wall Street Tour.
Dr. Tiffany T. Crutcher is the founder and executive director of the Terence Crutcher Foundation, an organization created following the death of her twin brother, Terence Crutcher, who was shot by a police officer in Tulsa while holding his hands in the air. The foundation works to reform policing and criminal justice, encourage more thoughtful and inclusive civic policies, and strengthen communities. Crutcher, who is a descendant of one of the families affected by the Massacre, also leads the Demanding A Just Tulsa Coalition, and The Tulsa Black Mental Health Alliance and the Tulsa Community Remembrance Coalition.
David Folkenflik is an award-winning journalist best known for his work for National Public Radio. He is the author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires and the editor of Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, Newsweek International, the National Post of Canada, and the Australian Financial Review. Business Insider has called Folkenflik one of the 50 most influential people in American media.