Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, died today at age 111. After decades of silence for fear of reprisals, she wrote a book about her experiences, "Don't Let Them Bury My Story," which was published in 2023. “I could never forget the charred remains of our once-thriving community, the smoke billowing in the air, and the terror-stricken faces of my neighbors,” she wrote. Here's more from @AssociatedPress.
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One of the last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma has died. Viola Ford Fletcher was 111. Her grandson, Ike Howard, said Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. In recent years, she had sought justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she had lived as a child. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during World War II and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper. She was 7 when the two-day attack began on the prosperous area that was known as Black Wall Street.