First hour: Journalist Victor Luckerson on his book, "Built from Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street"
Second hour: Previewing Indigenous celebrations of the eclipse
Two 109-year-old women appeared in Oklahoma Supreme Court this week in their ongoing push for reparations. Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Ford Fletcher are the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Their lawsuit against the city was dismissed, but now the women are appealing it. The massacre was one of the worst acts of racist violence in U.S. history; an estimated 300 African Americans were killed in the Greenwood district. Journalist Victor Luckerson has taken a multi-generational look at that neighborhood since the massacre. In his book, “Built from Fire,” he explores the evolution of the area since 1921, including how it was affected by urban renewal, gentrification, and more. Luckerson is in Rochester as a guest of RIT. He joins us for the hour on Connections. In studio:
- Victor Luckerson, author of “Built from Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street”
Then in our second hour, how are Indigenous people marking Monday’s total solar eclipse? Indigenous scientists, educators, and artists are gathering at the University of Rochester on Sunday and Monday for lectures, storytelling, and cultural demonstrations. We preview the programs and discuss the significance of the eclipse for Indigenous people with our guests:
- Jim Rock (Dakota), science educator and director of Indigenous programming for the Planetarium and Physics and Astronomy Department of Swenson College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Duluth
- Joel Helfrich, director of the Center for Local and Municipal History at SUNY Geneseo
