Black Poetry : Blacks in Oklahoma?

rasheed

Well-Known Member
REGISTERED MEMBER
Dec 27, 2003
582
4
Lawton, OK
Occupation
working for Paradise (Jannah)
Oklahoma's a place
Mos' Black folks don't know much about
When they think of places for Blacks
Oklahoma is usually left out
They think of Indians and White cowboys
But not usually Blacks
They think of cattle on the prairie
And coyotes runnin' in packs
They don't know
Oklahoma once had more all black towns
than the rest of the nation combined,
As well as Langston, an all Black University
And the Blacks were really really trying
And on the road to building a Mecca-like refuge
Where Free Blacks could live in peace
In the growing area of Greenwood, in north Tulsa
There was a flowering black economic feat
That rivaled developments Black and White
And came to be known as "Black Wall Street"
But what happened in Tulsa
That helped to curb this great Black progress
Unwavering hatred and mass destruction
Left Black Wall Street a mess
A riot ensued triggered by an alleged incident in a downtown building
A young black man, Dick Rowland, entered an elevator
And was accused of wrong doing
Rowland apparently stumbled into the young white female elevator operator, Sara Page
And startled her thereby setting the stage
The police arrested him for attacking the girl
And the now-defunct Tulsa Tribune newspaper
Ran a story on the front page
That indicated the alleged assault was an attempted rape
With the young man in custody with no means of escape
Then noting that angry whites were gathering outside the jail
The newspaper also ran an editorial suggesting a lynching
Paving the way for the breaking loose of hell
The headline read "Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator."
And what happened then is a sin before the Creator
35 square blocks of commerce was reduced to ashes
Hundreds of men, women, and children were murdered
Many of them buried in a common unmarked graves
The attack against the people of the Greenwood section of Tulsa came from the air
When planes dropped bombs upon the homes of the helpless there
Machine guns were used to mow down those thought less than human
This was 1921
Times were hard on Oklahomans and everyone
Yet the commerce of "Black Wall Street" had remained vibrant, and robust
Between the Black Wall Street residents was faith and trust
There were theatres, restaurants, hotels, and rows upon rows of well constructed homes
Black owned
Oklahoma's a place
Mos' Black folks don't know much about
When they think of places for Blacks
Oklahoma is usually left out
They think of Indians and White cowboys
But not usually Blacks
They think of cattle on the prairie
And coyotes runnin' in packs
 

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