"On May 18th at 3:41 pm, I received an urgent email from Dreisen Heath requesting my physical presence in DC to testify before the US House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Drieson is a highly sought-after researcher and advocate in Human Rights Watch's United States Program. I was scheduled to testify virtually, but there was no way I would deny this opportunity to present in person on behalf of thousands of victims in the 1921 Tulsa Massacre who have yet to receive justice. I had two hours to leave work, pack, and catch my flight by 5:50 pm. My heart was racing as I rushed through the airport. I cannot describe the honor I felt in that moment. I imagined the smiles of the ancestors gazing back at me from the reflection of the window on the airplane as the sun began its descent. I stared into the sky and prayed diligently that the sun would never set on our demand for justice."

Chief Egunwale Amusan Testifying to the Congress of the United States

May 19th, 2021

My Journey Begins

In 1985, I was a senior attending the prestigious Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My classmates and I wanted to venture out of Tulsa because it didn't feel like the kind of place where young Black people could thrive. We even joked that our only major visible contribution to the area seemed to be leading rodeo events. But we had high-rise dreams to go to places like Atlanta, D.C., Dallas, and Houston - places where Black people seemed to prosper. I returned from a short stay in Atlanta after high school with a completely new attitude. I saw a blueprint for success there. Black people in Atlanta practiced cooperative economics, collective work, and responsibility. The Black community and culture were celebrated all over the city. I wanted to see that in my own hometown. So I reached out to community leaders like the late Homer Johnson and former State Representative Don Ross to discuss possibilities for this kind of infrastructure in Tulsa. They gave me knowing half-smiles. They knew these were not original ideas.

In fact, many of these ideas actually originated in the vibrant Greenwood Historic District, which I was too young to remember. From these leaders, I learned that the dreamscape I imagined had actually existed in my own backyard.

Imagine hearing for the first time that there were Black millionaires in Tulsa and all over the state. Imagine being told that we had our own hotels, hospitals, schools, libraries, movie theaters, and ice cream parlors in the same community where I played in as a child - all of which are nonexistent today. I felt betrayed by the educational system that was supposed to provide me with pride, resources, accurate history, and the inspiration to go out and be productive in my community. No one told me that the community I was supposed to go out and be productive in had been destroyed not once, but twice.

It would not be until the late 90s and early 2000s that I would discover that my own kin were survivors of the Tulsa Massacre. My grandfather, Raymond Beard Sr., became a plaintiff in the reparations lawsuit filed by Professor and Attorney Charles Ogletree in 2003 that went all the way to the Supreme Court but was denied on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired.

Keep reading on the 2892: Tulsa website here...