And now I lay me down to sleep
The world has gone bat shit crazy – Oklahoma wtf? and this heat suddenly in New Orleans – I fell asleep at the playground as Tin was on the jungle gym. Really? We live in uncertain times, so we need to learn how to bob and weave through this insane ride.
Namaste.
May 22nd, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, a group of white folks (aka Haters) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attacked the Greenwood District, also known as the “Black Wall Street” literally burning it to the ground. During the assault, more than 800 whites were admitted to local white hospitals with injuries (the Black hospital was burned down so you can only imagine how and where Black folks were treated) and the police arrested and detained more than 6,000 Black Greenwood residents for their protection. An estimated 10,000 Blacks were left homeless, and 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire. The official count of the dead by the Oklahoma Department of Vital Statistics was 39, but other estimates of black fatalities have been up to about 300.
The events of the riot were long omitted from local and state histories and the riot was rarely mentioned. In 1967 an R&B group formed and named themselves the “Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band” as a way of paying homage to the Black Community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The group later changed its name to the GAP Band (Hummm, bet you’ll never listen to “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” quite the same).
With the number of survivors declining, in 1996, the state legislature commissioned a report to establish the historical record of the events, and acknowledge the victims and damages to the Black community. Released in 2001, the report included the commission’s recommendations for some compensatory actions. The state has passed legislation to establish some scholarships for descendants of survivors, economic development of Greenwood, and a memorial park to the victims in Tulsa. The latter was dedicated in 2010.
On Monday, May 20, 2013, Moore, Oklahoma (about 1 1/2 hours from Tulsa) experienced a massive tornado that was 17 miles long, over 1 mile wide, left at least 24 people dead and has an estimated destruction value of 2 billion dollars.
Musing Redd
*Musing: To say to oneself in a thoughtful manner
May 22nd, 2013 at 10:02 pm
Dear Musing Redd – I have to say that there are no coincidences in this life and what you just told me no longer sounds surprising. They say that the worse thing that can happen is for you to become numb to the shock, but I wouldn’t call what I feel as numb, I would just say that my rose colored glasses are cracked. I’ve always given folks the benefit of the doubt that they are innately and inherently good but I know that the worse of people is sometimes in group think and group speak and in group hate. That’s when evil is justified and history looks askance.
God bless everyone of the souls that are still agitated and swirling around in tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma – I hope they can rest now and find peace.
May 23rd, 2013 at 7:12 am
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