The oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre has died at the age of 111. Viola Ford Fletcher was 7 years old when she survived a wave of attacks by racist white mobs who set fire to homes, businesses and churches in Greenwood, a thriving African American business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as “Black Wall Street.” Fletcher devoted her life to raising awareness about the Tulsa race massacre. In 2021, she testified to Congress ahead of the 100th anniversary of the massacre.

Viola Ford Fletcher: “I 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. I have lived through the massacre every day. A country may forget this history, but I cannot. I will not. And other survivors do not, and our descendants do not.”

Viola Ford Fletcher’s 2023 memoir is titled “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.” Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Fletcher and other remaining survivors who sought reparations from Tulsa.