Watch

Film Brings Awareness to Tragic Events on Greenwood Avenue

Creator:
Published:
January 30, 2024
February 1, 2020
This historical filmmaker is bringing awareness to the Tulsa Race Massacre that occurred on Greenwood Avenue.|This historical filmmaker is bringing awareness to the Tulsa Race Massacre that occurred on Greenwood Avenue.

(This story includes violent images from a historical reenactment of a race riot.)

Ayana Baraka is the creator of an upcoming historical film about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Filmed on the actual Greenwood Avenue, this film is both a way to preserve history and bring healing.

"When you film on the land with the ancestors of folks who were murdered or who survived, it resonated," she shares.

Video Transcript

Meet Ayana: Historical Filmmaker

Tulsa, Oklahoma: Ayana is recreating a race riot that destroyed a thriving black community in 1921.

Speaker 1: Sound, camera.

Speaker 2: Rolling. Scene two, take eight.

Speaker 3: Action!

(People acting out scene — yelling, fighting in the street)

The film is called Greenwood Avenue: A Virtual Reality Experience

Ayana Baraka, watching cut of scene: Is it jarring? Did it bump you? It bumped me a little bit, did it bump you? I think our color shift towards green was a little too much.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Ayana: I remember being maybe a preteen and trying to prove my blackness, as if I needed to do that. You know what I'm saying? I thought I was past that, but I really needed to unpack that in order to make this project — to really understand how complicated race in America is, 'cause it's complicated.

Yeah, we're going to look at episode one from the beginning.

(Voiceover from film playing) “There’s a community where African Americans can feel free — Black Wall Street.”

Ayana: My grandmother helped raise my sister and I, and while I was at USC she passed away. And I felt sick because I didn't have her recipes, her favorite songs. So I just was really about preserving history.

We filmed on the actual Greenwood Avenue. We wanted to show the beauty of Greenwood so we had everyone in the 1920s outfits. It was like, you know, we're doing this historical piece for no money. This is a half a million-dollar production that we're doing on buttons. We took down street signs, all of that. We recreated it — 1920s. We are in severe credit card debt that we will be shoveling our way out of soon. You could feel it on set, that three-year journey of us just trying to get it together. I don't know, it was magic — movie magic.

(Voiceover from film playing) “And this all started over a boy and a girl and an elevator.”

Ayana: When you film on the land with the ancestors of folks who were murdered or who survived, it resonated. And I think that was powerful, and that was the best takeaway. That memory and the beginning of the race massacre at night

[audio from film]

— folks cried, and there was healing that was happening there.

(Cast of film cheering, hugging)

Ayana hopes to release the film this summer to honor the 99th anniversary of the riots.

(Acting out riot scene)

Creators:
Grotto
Published:
January 30, 2024
February 1, 2020
On a related note...
Telling the Stories of Richmond, Virginia

Telling the Stories of Richmond, Virginia

Grotto

Deepen Your Commitment to Anti-Racism with These Resources

Deepen Your Commitment to Anti-Racism with These Resources

Molly Cruitt

Grotto’s Travel Guide to Nashville

Grotto’s Travel Guide to Nashville

Andrew Mentock

6 Hacks for Staying Motivated to Work Out

6 Hacks for Staying Motivated to Work Out

Javi Zubizarreta

3 Ways to Love Those We’ve Never Met

3 Ways to Love Those We’ve Never Met

Mike Jordan Laskey

5 Things Every Beginner Cook Needs to Know

5 Things Every Beginner Cook Needs to Know

Lauren Lawson

‘Why Not Live in Reckless Wonder?’ 3 Poems Bundled Around Beauty

‘Why Not Live in Reckless Wonder?’ 3 Poems Bundled Around Beauty

Grotto

Can Poetry Teach Us to Love the World — Even When It’s So Broken?

Can Poetry Teach Us to Love the World — Even When It’s So Broken?

Josh Noem

Why We are Trying to Remember a Painful Past

Why We are Trying to Remember a Painful Past

Stephen G. Adubato

Bible Characters Party Game

Bible Characters Party Game

Grotto

5 Things to Know if You're Bored with Baseball

5 Things to Know if You're Bored with Baseball

Tanner Kalina

"Orchids"

"Orchids"

Barbara Lisette

The Privilege of Fatherhood

The Privilege of Fatherhood

Terry Fitzgibbons

St. Maximilian Kolbe Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

St. Maximilian Kolbe Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Why We Should Lean Into the Mystery of Death

Why We Should Lean Into the Mystery of Death

Claire Collins

4 Ways I Reclaim Control of a Crazy Busy Week

4 Ways I Reclaim Control of a Crazy Busy Week

Emily Mae Mentock

Headed Home for Christmas? Here’s a Playlist for the Trip

Headed Home for Christmas? Here’s a Playlist for the Trip

Grotto

How Baseball Teams Celebrate Mass During the Season

How Baseball Teams Celebrate Mass During the Season

Grotto Shares

St. John the Baptist Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

St. John the Baptist Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Honoring My Younger Self this New Year's

Honoring My Younger Self this New Year's

Isaac Huss

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.