Greenwood Rising vision is spurring dialogue: 'Acknowledge the past and address it'

Speaking for a live-streamed event presented by the University of Oklahoma, Commission Chairman Kevin Matthews and members Hannibal Johnson and Phil Armstrong highlighted a James Baldwin quotation they said will appear on Greenwood Rising, the 11,600-square-foot history center under construction at Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street.

“‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,’” said Armstrong, project manager for Greenwood Rising. “That’s the overarching theme.

“The community was very, very adamant … that we should not just continually focus on the massacre,” Armstrong said. “They want people to hear the full narrative history, to find out how … Black people got to Oklahoma. Tell people about the all-Black towns of Oklahoma. Talk about 1893, when Oklahoma was being discussed … as possibly the first Black state.”

Armstrong said Black Tulsans want people to know that “time did not stand still in 1921” and that the “resiliency, the human spirit in the people of Greenwood” allowed the area to flourish until it reached its peak after World War II.

Armstrong said the museum will also show the neighborhood’s decline in the 1960s and the effect of urban renewal and construction of the Inner Dispersal Loop.

“When you come to Greenwood Rising, when you come to the area, we want dialogue to take place,” said Matthews, a state senator whose district includes Greenwood and surrounding neighborhoods.

“Acknowledge the past and address it, and the best way we see to address it is through reconciliation and dialogue,” Matthews said. “That’s our long-range vision — to be an example to the world.”

Matthews said allies “outside the race” have been essential to the Centennial Commission and the larger issue of race relations. He particularly cited U.S. Sen. James Lankford, who has worked with Matthews and other Black Tulsans on several matters.

Johnson, director of Greenwood Rising, said the center will have four galleries, each focusing on a different aspect of the community.

“The idea is to tell the full story of Greenwood’s rich history and tell it in a way that is cohesive and holistic,” Johnson said.

He said the desire is to “focus on the people who built the community, who sustained the community over time, who persevered over great odds and rebuilt their community after its devastation.”

Armstrong said current plans are for the center to be dedicated in May and to be fully open next fall.

Related video: Greenwood Rising groundbreaking