Viola Fletcher

By Stacy M. Brown

Contributing Writer

TULSA, Okla. — Viola Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, died Nov. 24. She was 111. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said Fletcher’s death marks a moment of mourning for a city still learning how to reckon with its own truth.

“Today, our city mourns the loss of mother Viola Fletcher, a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history,” Nichols said. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose. Her legacy will be carried forward with the courage and conviction she modeled every day of her life.”

Fletcher was 7 years old in 1921 a white mob laid waste to Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, a thriving Black-owned business district. The

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