A Bench by the Road

A Bench by the Road. . ,

There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves; nothing that reminds us of the ones who made the journey and of those who did not make it. There is no suitable memorial or plaque or wreath or wall or park or skyscraper lobby. There's no three-hundred-foot tower. There's no small bench by the road. - Toni Morrison 1989

The Bench by the Road Project was launched by the Toni Morrison Society in honor of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. This bench is placed to commemorate the African-American heroes and defenders of justice during the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. In the early 20th century, Tulsa was home of one of the most prosperous Black communities in the country. Businesses flourished along Greenwood Avenue, which was surrounded and supported by thriving black residential neighborhoods. On the morning of June 1st, after Dick Rowland, a young Black man, had been falsely accused of assaulting a White girl, violence erupted. A White lynch mob burned, shot, and pillaged its way through the Greenwood District, destroying the businesses and homes of the District. Along Archer and Greenwood Streets, Black men fought valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to stand down the invading attackers. By the evening of June 1st, the majority of the Black population of Tulsa was left homeless, and the once thriving business area known as “Black Wall Street” had been burned to the ground. Many of those who survived the Massacre refused to leave the Tulsa area and rebuilt on the very streets that had been destroyed. This bench honors those men, women, and children who defended their homes and business[es] during the Tulsa Massacre and the self-determination of the Black Tulsans who have rebuilt the Greenwood District and kept the memory of the bravery and heroic actions of their ancestors alive.