'Black Lives Matter' message in the Greenwood District of historical significance, community stakeholders say

About two dozen people gathered Sunday outside the Greenwood Cultural Center, located about a half-block from where the mural is painted on Greenwood Avenue, one of the most prominent streets in the Greenwood District, the location of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

“Being right here is very significant because Black lives matter on Black Wall Street, which in 1921 didn’t matter,” said Mareo Johnson, a founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Tulsa. “We saw a whole community destroyed.”

A group of activists painted the street sign without the city’s permission just before Juneteenth and the arrival of President Donald Trump for a campaign rally at the BOK Center. That prompted a group of local Republicans to seek permission from the city to paint a “Back the Blue” sign on a city street.

City councilors concluded last week that the legal obstacles and practical implications of allowing such signs would not make good public policy. City attorneys told councilors that there were no laws to allow turning a street into a canvas.

“It’s down there now, and not only is it down there now, it’s in a historical district,” Johnson said.

Johnson surmised that those seeking the mural’s removal do not live in, visit or patronize the Greenwood District.

The topic was brought to attention in July when Bob Jack, chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party, sent a letter to City Councilor Ben Kimbro and the Mayor’s Office seeking information on the application process for painting a sign on the street.

“A group has approached me with a plan to paint on a city street in large letters “BACK THE BLUE” and “BABY LIVES MATTER,” Jack wrote. “As you are aware, the city did not intervene in the painting of “BLACK LIVE(S) MATTER” on Greenwood, just north of Archer, and the group is requesting the same right to voice their opinion.”

Briana Shea was one of the artists and community organizers who spearheaded the effort to paint the sign on the street on the eve of Juneteenth.

She said she and several others are looking at what process or laws may bolster their position in keeping the lettering. The mural was a “gift from the community to the community,” Shea said. Local community members contributed supplies and labor to painting it, and Shea noted that the painting of the mural cost the city no money.

“We thought we should have some say in it rather than the city just deciding for the community,” Shea said.

As of early Sunday afternoon, more than 11,200 people have signed a Change.org petition in a request to make the mural permanent.

Gallery: 'Black Lives Matter' painted overnight on street in Tulsa's Greenwood District

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