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Viola Fletcher, Voice of Greenwood and Global Symbol of Resilience, Dies at 111

November 24, 2025

Viola Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, passed away at 111 years old, leaving behind a powerful legacy of testimony and advocacy. Throughout her extraordinarily long life, she refused to let America forget the destruction of Greenwood's Black Wall Street, testifying before Congress to demand reparations and co-authoring a memoir to preserve her story. Her resilience extended beyond survival—she worked as a wartime welder and housekeeper into her eighties, built a foundation promoting community opportunity, and in 2021 became a Ghanaian citizen alongside her brother in a historic embassy ceremony.

Who is affected

  • Viola Fletcher (deceased survivor)
  • Hughes Van Ellis (her brother, also known as Uncle Red, who was a massacre survivor)
  • Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols
  • The city of Tulsa and Greenwood community
  • Descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
  • Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin
  • The Viola Ford Fletcher Foundation
  • Ambassador Erieka Bennett and journalist Tiffany Cross

What action is being taken

  • No explicit ongoing actions stated in the article. (The article describes past actions and completed events, including her testimony to Congress, memoir publication, foundation work, and 2021 citizenship ceremony, but no current ongoing actions.)

Why it matters

  • Fletcher's death represents the loss of direct living testimony from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. Her century-long advocacy kept national attention focused on an atrocity that authorities attempted to erase and bury, demanding accountability and reparations when many preferred to forget. Her persistence in sharing her story through congressional testimony, oral histories, and her memoir ensures that future generations cannot claim ignorance about state-sponsored racial violence and its lasting consequences. Her life exemplified the resilience of Black communities that survived systematic attempts at destruction while continuing to fight for recognition and justice.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The Washington Informer