A thriving Black city was once a beacon of self-made prosperity—until lies, fear, and sanctioned violence turned it to ash. We revisit Greenwood, Tulsa’s Black Wall Street, to understand how a community built by doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers, and teachers was not only destroyed overnight but then buried beneath decades of silence. From the false accusation against Dick Rowland to newspapers stoking rage and authorities deputizing civilians, we unpack how a spark became an onslaught, including aerial incendiaries, mass displacement, and a death toll counted in the hundreds.
We go beyond the flames to trace the quieter policies that completed the job: insurance denials that nullified paid-up coverage, zoning and red tape that blocked rebuilding, and a reframing of the massacre as a “riot” to imply mutual blame. That narrative shift was not an accident; it protected perpetrators, stalled investigations into suspected mass graves, and cut families off from the intergenerational wealth Greenwood had already set in motion. The result wasn’t just trauma—it was economic assassination that echoes in today’s racial wealth gap.
Using survivor accounts and the historical record, we connect Greenwood’s destruction to the modern case for reparations, showing how repair links directly to measurable loss, breached contracts, and state-enabled dispossession. We also reflect on how curricula, archives, and public memory can either hide or heal. If you’ve ever wondered why calls for reparations persist, or how prosperous Black communities were systematically undermined, this story offers clarity—and a challenge to what we think we know about American history.
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Extinguished With David McClam & LaDonna Humphrey
Musical Album
The Witch Hunt Of Lanny Hughes
Cover Art and Logo created by Diana of Other Worldly
Sound Mixing and editing by David McClam
Intro script by Sophie Wild From Fiverr & David McClam
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