VIRTUAL REAL TALK
THE UNSPEAKABLE TRUTH OF THE 1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE
April is National Poetry Month and poetry has always been a vehicle for truth. If there is truth in experience and power in the written word; what truth can be excavated from the voices of the past? We will reflect on poets, such as A.J. Smitherman, a founder of Black Wall Street, who recounted the events in the poem “Tulsa Race Riot and Massacre” in 1921. Join us as we explore the poetic and prophetic voices from today and reconstruct the truth from 100 years of poetry. From obscurity to the turning of a blind eye, to being labeled as a “Race Riot”, to what we now know was a Race Massacre is just the beginning of this discussion as the echoes of 300 lost souls still scream through the fingertips of poets today.
SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2021; 2:00 PM
GUEST PANEL:
Phetote Mshairi (he/him)
Poet, Tulsa Artist Fellow & Greenwood Art Project Artist
Ayilla (she/her)
Singer/Rapper & Owner of LoveMore Hookah Lounge
Morris A. McCorvey (he/him)
Poet & Retired Executive Director of the Westside Community Center
HOST:
Devin Williams (he/him) Social Justice Advocate & Member of Tri-City Collective
Presented by The Woody Guthrie Center, Tri-City Collective, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and the Black Wall Street Times. Real Talk is a series of curated live conversations on issues and topics of critical import to marginalized communities, including, but not limited to: People of Color, LGBTQA and Economically Disadvantaged Citizens. Providing a voice and platform for often voiceless people is at the heart of the series.