A Garden more so than a Graveyard

It is no coincidence that this Greenwood bred stateswoman sends this message to her community from the other side of eternity to this moment in the community's history. 

Senator Horner's "Thank You Greenwood" message comes as a Trumpet call to awaken what some consider dead and lost by fire in the black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Senator Horner calls for a revolution of inhales and exhales that come welcome life beyond the pain. A revolution of joy, laughter, dancing, and love that authenticates our living despite the loss.

In the wake of George Floyd's death, at the 100 year mark of the of the 1921 massacre, and on the heels of a Juneteenth celebration she helped to cultivate, Senator Horner calls for breath and life where there was death and destruction.

This house has been in Bobby Eaton's family for many generations. The Eaton home has been a haven and home base for the Eaton's since before the massacre of 1921.

"My parents left the hospital and brought me directly to this house before they took me home. The how important this house is to us." Like the tree that stands before it, his Eaton estate is deeply rooted in Tulsa history.

This is activist, artist, and musician Bobby Eaton. He lives in a home that is three generations deep with Greenwood's heritage. He transformed his grandfather's barbershop next door into a studio with radio programming for the people.

Fiercely divided by a segregation that echoes the hidden shame and fear of the 1921 massacre,  most indigenous  African Americans live in North Tulsa where Eaton and his family have lived for over 100 years.

Bobby Eaton has a clear and empowered vision for his beloved North Tulsa that he activates with his work in the works as a creative culture shaper and community advocate.

Bobby Eaton Jr. keeps these chains in his studio as an artifact of his freedom. This chain that held enslaved Africans is an artifact and a reminder of the freedom he longs for his work to be in the world. 

He holds the chains that once held his ancestor's bondage with strength and determination. "This won't happen again". - Bobby Eaton Jr.

Bobby Eaton Jr. reflects on his career while looking at a mirror mounted in his studio and framed by his guitars. Playing with artists from Sly Stone to Jonny Mathis, Bobby has a track record of studio musicianship and moving large crowds of concertgoers. 

With the fluidity of a spring, he transitions from music crowd movement to social engagement. He strums the hearts of Tulsa as an artist whose art has become his activism.

The following is a series of images and stories from the North Tulsa Community Music Festival that took place during the Centennial Commemoration in June of 2021. 

One hundred years from a massacre, life is growing from the national and international narrative of death given to this community to sensationalize it's pain. 

When asked what he would share with the world about Tulsa, he first asked if we had his "good side" then said, " They can't stop us".

This North Tulsa Community Festival member stands wears a shirt that represents his belief about the community he loves. 

ab·duc·tion
/abˈdəkSH(ə)n/

The action or an instance of forcibly taking someone away against their will.

In a nation where black people often feel foreign in the experience of being American, "black boldness" can be seen as odd or alien because of the social conditions that work to keep them quiet, timid, or invisible.  

This woman stands proud and bold in the midst of a festival made to be a refuge for her culture and an alien abduction of her limitations.

" I am connected to a wealth of history."  - North Tulsa Community Festival Attendee

This North Tulsa Community Music Festival attendee was glowing with the green that is Greenwood and the gold that is the invaluable gift this historic community is to the world.

This family stood proud in the street as they posed for a family picture. 

When asked what he wanted to say to the world about being a Tulsan the father responded with a declaration of who he was by virtue of where he was from. "I am North Tulsa" - Festival Attendee

Many North Tulsans work their whole lives to leave Tulsa to make a name for themselves or to become more fully who they are. This man later shared that he has travelled and lived all over the nation only to come back home to find himself where he started.

For this Tulsan affectionately known as, "Priest", identity and place are integral to how he takes ownership of his being. He left to make a name for himself but came back to realize that he is North Tulsa!