Uncrowned Community Builders

Ghost, goblins, witches and d ballerinas. What a TREAT!

The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921: 102 Years and Yet the Healing Continues – We Continue to Remember the Brave Men and Women of Tulsa – And We Continue to Tell Their Stories.

Andrew Jackson Smitherman: A Pen Warrior for Racial Justice

Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, PhD
On May 31st – June 1st, Tulsa, Oklahoma will mark the 102 years since the 1921 Race Massacre destroyed the city’s African American community, known as Greenwood. Andrew Jackson Smitherman was an influential member of that community and the publisher and editor of the Tulsa Star newspaper. Smitherman was called a “pen warrior”. He believed that a journalist should use the power of the press “in the liberation of Black people from all their chains, real and imaginary.” Smitherman often reported on the violent mobs that terrorized and lynched Blacks in Oklahoma and throughout the country. He repeatedly reminded his readers that African Americans had the legal and moral right to protect themselves and others from lawless vigilantes. As a “crusading reporter” he went beyond just writing about his opinions. There is copious documentation in Smitherman’s news articles, editorials, and reports from his contemporaries that he personally and courageously intervened in at least two lynchings, at great physical danger to himself.
On the night of May 31st, Smitherman lost everything, his newspaper plant, his home, and his freedom, for a short time. He was arrested and wrongly accused of inciting the Massacre. He was forced to flee the State and settled in Boston with his wife and five children. Smitherman was declared a fugitive and an order was issued for his extradition.
Even though he was a fugitive and threatened with arrest and return to Oklahoma, his fight to call out the true inciters of the Massacre, advocate for reparations for survivors and promote passage of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was ongoing. In 1925, Smitherman relocated to Buffalo, New York, revived his newspaper career and for the next 36 years built a reputation as an outstanding citizen. Few in Buffalo were aware of his history. His indictment as an inciter of the race riot remained until Dr. Nevergold initiated a campaign seeking vindication of his criminal indictment after 86 years. In 2007, thanks to Nevergold’s efforts, Smitherman and 57 other Black men, who also were indicted with him had their records cleared and charges dropped!

So, we will be announcing the winners of the 2023 Ida Dora Fairbush Memorial Scholarship and Mary Crosby Chappelle Memorial Scholarship. These two women were dedicated educators, who worked with students inside and outside the classroom. Read their bios at:
http://uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/person/ida-1

http://uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/person/mary-2

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Please join me on May 19th for a Zoom presentation on the East Presbyterian Church: the Forgotten Congregation, Buffalo's third church founded by African Americans. See the attached for information.