{"id":9826,"date":"2023-06-14T01:53:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T01:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=9826"},"modified":"2025-01-09T20:16:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T01:16:53","slug":"viola-fletcher-the-oldest-survivor-of-tulsa-race-massacre-releases-memoir-dont-let-them-bury-my-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/viola-fletcher-the-oldest-survivor-of-tulsa-race-massacre-releases-memoir-dont-let-them-bury-my-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Viola Fletcher, The Oldest Survivor Of Tulsa Race Massacre, Releases Memoir \u2018Don\u2019t Let Them Bury My Story\u2019<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
PHOTO: OKLAHOMA ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY<\/mark><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, Viola Fletcher was apprehensive about telling her story of surviving the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the most abhorrent instances of racial violence in U.S. history. As the oldest living survivor at 109 years old, Fletcher will soon release her memoir \u201cDon\u2019t Let Them Bury My Story,\u201d which was co-written by her grandson, Ike Howard. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with KJHR<\/a>, her grandson said that Fletcher believed that she was protecting her family by not speaking about the massacre. \u201cShe didn\u2019t want to have anything to do with it, period,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing I was here to protect her, she was encouraged to conquer her fear. She looked at me and said, \u2018Alright then, go tell my damn story.’\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memoir begins when Fletcher was seven years old as she woke to the horrifying sounds of the massacre, forced to flee her neighborhood in the middle of the night. Chronicling her entire life, the book also includes her activism and how she testified before Congress 100 years later to help bring justice to victims of the massacre. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams,\u201d Fletcher said to Congress. \u201cI have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 109 years old, Fletcher is the oldest centurion to ever write and publish a book. \u201cDon\u2019t Let Them Bury My Story\u201d will be available to purchase on July 4th. Pre-order now via Amazon<\/a> or at your local bookstore.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As an independent magazine with a small team, we rely on the support of our readers to keep JARO’s content free and accessible to everyone. Please <\/em>support<\/em><\/a> our ability to continue delivering the best of the African Diaspora with a donation as little as $1. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Support JARO<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until recently, Viola Fletcher was apprehensive about telling her story of surviving the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the most abhorrent instances of racial violence in U.S. history. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}