By Professor Clarence Glover
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
In the midst new land
Where African freed men
and freed women from slavery
Built for themselves and their families
An oasis of hope and progress
An American contradiction
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Where liberty lived and thrived
Midst the ushering of black gold
Transformed into dollars
Passing from Black hands to Black hands
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Where African men and women
Built houses that became homes
Where African faith and Churches rose to give thanks
Halleluyahs echoed to the beat of liberated souls
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Our Garden of Eden
Where you walked with God
In the cool of the days
Where the fruit of the trees was good
And in the midst of Her was life
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Our Black Wall Street
Where Black commerce was controlled by Black people
Banks, Schools, Hospitals, Hotels, Theaters, Shoe Shops Grocery Stores, Parks, Playgrounds, Transportation
Built by us for us
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Free from America’s poison
Where children could play
While parents worked
And Elders passed on rich memories of days gone by
Where history was preserved and culture thrived.
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Where in 24 hours evil invaded
Eden
When America’s sin crossed into your peacefulness
Smoked rose and fire ravished
homes, schools, businesses and churches
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Where Black men fought war abroad and war at home
Where America killed over 300 of its citizens
And harmed over 10,000 more
Where families were separated
Concentrated into camps
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Where history had forgotten you
Where the pains of the past locked the secrets of your suffering
While children raised new families and Tulsa forgot.
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
One hundred years later the children now elders speak
Sankofa stories of times gone by
Reaching back to fetch the Spirits of Ancestors
While new generations pursue justice for you
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Give thanks for Mary E. Parrish
Who’s memories of your glory and pain she has given to us
Through her words you will never be forgotten again
As generations of Americans of all cultures come to know your story, our story
An American story
Oh Greenwood
Our Little Africa
Like the legendary Phoenix
You are rising from the ashes
As the bones of your people speak to us from silent graves
As God breaths life into new bodies
Working to make Greenwood great again
Working to make Little Africa
great again
UBUNTU!
Professor Clarence Glover, Jr
aka Professor Freedom
“Taking the chains off your brain, so your mind can word.”
On the 100th Commemoration of the Burning of the Greenwood Community (Little Africa) in Tulsa, Oklahoma
June 1, 2021
