Tulsa Race Riot Anniversary Plans Made By Annapolis, Anne Arundel

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Annapolis and Anne Arundel will leaders will observe May 30 as “Black Wall Street Day” in remembrance of the 1921 Tulsa attack on Blacks.

From noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 30, an event will be held at People’s Park in Annapolis to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Greenwood Massacre, which took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma between May 31 and June 1 in 1921.

The City of Annapolis, Office of Mayor Gavin Buckley, in partnership with the office of Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, will host the event.

In the early 1900s, Tulsa’s Greenwood District was known as “Black Wall Street,” one of the most successful, established, and wealthiest Black business districts in the nation. The massacre, carried out by mobs of white residents as an attack by ground and from private aircraft, destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the district.

More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals. As many as 6,000 Black residents were interned for several days while more than three dozen were confirmed dead (26 Black and 13 white).

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley and Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman will speak at the event, as well as local community leaders about the importance of community healing and restorative justice. The event will feature several local Black-owned businesses in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, as well as local artists and musicians.

“The 100th anniversary of the Greenwood Massacre is a moment for all of us to recognize the collective trauma caused by our nation’s history of racial violence,” Pittman said in a news release. “We must use this moment as a way to uplift the work of community healing and restorative justice, to address past trauma and build a more equitable future.”

“I look forward to working with community leaders and groups to create a path forward to address the local and national history of racial violence and institutional racism,” Buckley said in a statement. “It is crucial that we show how restorative justice practices, like this event, not only raise awareness to national tragedies like the Tulsa Race Riot, but that they also create a space to heal.”

For more information, contact Adetola Ajayi, African American Community Service Specialist Mayor’s Office (410) 972-6257 aoajayi@annapolis.gov or Vincent Moulden Assistant Director of Strategic Engagement, in the office of the County Executive, (443) 699-0977 exmoul00@aacounty.org.

For more information about Black Wall Street: http://blackwallstreet.org/ourhistory.