Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest residing survivor of the Tulsa race bloodbath, forged her poll in Oklahoma on Tuesday at 110 years outdated for Kamala Harris.
In a photograph shared on social media, Fletcher is carrying an “I voted” sticker, and based on CNN journalist Abby Phillip, Fletcher voted for the vice-president, as she had beforehand stated she would.
Simply in: 110-year outdated Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the Tulsa Race Bloodbath voted at the moment in Oklahoma. I’m advised she voted for Vice President Harris. pic.twitter.com/UHVYPru4Go
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) November 5, 2024
Fletcher was simply seven years outdated in 1921 when a white mob attacked the town’s “Black Wall Road”, killing an estimated 300 African People. The mob additionally robbed and burned greater than 1,200 companies, church buildings and houses, which left 1000’s of individuals homeless.
In 2021, 100 years after the bloodbath occurred, Fletcher and different survivors testified earlier than Congress in help of a lawsuit introduced in 2020 aimed toward getting reparations for the destruction of Greenwood, a once-thriving Black district.
The lawsuit argued that Tulsa’s historical past of racial division and stress stemmed from the bloodbath and famous that the town and insurance coverage corporations by no means compensated the victims.
The lawsuit additionally argued that the bloodbath resulted in racial and financial disparities within the area that also exist at the moment.
In 2023, an Oklahoma decide dismissed the lawsuit, undermining efforts to safe some authorized justice for the aged survivors.
That very same 12 months, Fletcher launched her memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, which particulars the affect of the Tulsa bloodbath on her life and advocates for racial justice.
Lessie Benningfield Randle, one in every of different final residing survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Bloodbath, additionally forged her vote within the 2024 election this week, based on Essence.
Randle, who’s 109 years outdated, advised Essence, that if that is her final poll, “then I’m grateful that it’s for Kamala Harris”.
“My grandchildren deserve a world the place taking good care of their dad and mom isn’t a monetary battle, treatment is inexpensive and ladies are free” she stated. “And our youngsters deserve a president who will encourage them to study from historical past, not a tyrant who will attempt to erase it.”
