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Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Gaylord News

Kode Ransom, owner of the Liquid Lounge, a coffee shop in Greenwood District, is a direct descendant of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. PHOTO: Maria Nairns

Resilience in the Greenwood District

Teegan Smith and Ana Castillo December 15, 2024

TULSA, OKLAHOMA. Over a century since the Tulsa Race Massacre in the city’s historic Greenwood district, descendants of survivors detailed their understanding of the legacy and the importance of teaching...

Popeye Not Picasso painting a street portrait of George Floyd on the fourth anniversary of his death. Popeye creates a Floyd mural on the spot where he died on every May 25th anniversary. PHOTO: Maria Nairn

Beacons of Hope

LJ Golston June 15, 2024

TULSA, Oklahoma and MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota  — The art that fuels culture in Black communities is often connected to traumatization brought on by systems of oppression. The buildings around 38th Street...

Joyce Smith-Williams celebrates the legacy of Greenwood’s Black Wall Street at the Legacy Festival. Smith-Williams, a longtime Greenwood resident, wears shirts to memorialize the experience of her people almost every day. PHOTO: Madeline Cantrell.

T-shirts serve a spirit of remembrance in two neighborhoods separated by state lines

Madeline Cantrell June 8, 2024

TULSA, OKLAHOMA AND MINNEAPOLIS Although they are both still grappling with acts of racial violence, there is a spirit of remembrance rooted in hope in the Greenwood District of Tulsa and the neighborhood...

Dwight Alexander owns Smoke in The Pit, a smoked meats and southern-style side dish restaurant in George Floyd Square, Minneapolis. | PHOTO: Maria Nairn

Business Spotlight

Ana Castillo and Teegan Smith June 4, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota and TULSA, Oklahoma -  Whether it be over the course of 100 years or just a couple, Black-owned businesses in both Tulsa’s historic Greenwood district and George Floyd Square...

Marquise Bowie, one of the founders of Agape, takes the Voices of Resilience team on a tour of George Floyd Square. Left to right are LJ Golston, Ana Castillo, Bowie and Cameron Williams.

The Agape Movement

Cameron Williams June 3, 2024

Writer’s note: I visited George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a week to better understand a community that has been traumatized by police brutality and local violence. Working out of...

Descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre pose in front of the Doorways to Hope art
installation commemorating their ancestors. PHOTO: Cameron Williams

Tulsa’s Elgin Street underpass is home to Doorways to Hope

Cameron Williams and LJ Golston June 2, 2024

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Community leaders and artists gathered under the Elgin Street underpass to unveil 20 murals depicting key figures of the Greenwood District of Tulsa on Saturday, June 1. The event,...

Tiffany Crutcher introduces a group of Japanese-American panelists at the Black Wall Street Legacy Summit. Maria Nairn/Gaylord News

Legacy and history are different concepts, Black Wall Street panelists say at festival

Teegan Smith and Ana Castillo June 1, 2024

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Learning history and connecting with legacy are different concepts, according to at least one panelist at the fourth annual Black Wall Street Legacy Festival in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood...

A standing garden sits next to the George Floyd Memorial. PHOTO: Maria Nairn

Resilience in George Floyd Square

Teegan Smith and Ana Castillo May 25, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - Repainting the names of individuals lost to systemic oppression, running community gardens and sharing culture via fashion with a mutual aid clothing stand. These are all vital...

Southside Village Boys and Girls Club

Madeline Cantrell May 24, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS- The neighborhood around George Floyd Square in South Minneapolis, affectionately known as the ‘Southside Village’ is anchored by a community organization that faces an uncertain future.  The...

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