TULSA — Viola Fletcher is the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The book starts when Fletcher was 7 years old. The sounds of the massacre scared her awake. Until recently, she was hesitant to tell her story.
“She thought in her mind, she was protecting her family, by not talking about it," Ike Howard, Fletcher's grandson, said, "She didn’t wanna have anything to do with it, period.”
When Howard finally convinced his grandmother to work on the book, she said what would become the title, "Don’t bury my story."
“It’s not about the race massacre it’s about my grandmother’s entire life," Howard said, "She was the first ‘Rosie the Riveter.’ It’s about Viola Fletcher, her thoughts about different things, and different things that happened to our family.”
Fletcher worked on this book with Howard, and they say it was a challenge to recount 109 years worth of stories.
“It was a challenge because she’d tell me something new every day," Howard said, "When we drove down here, it was a four-hour drive, She’ll say something that she’s never told me before in her life.”
Tulsans packed inside the Fulton Street Bookstore, listening to the family’s perspective. Bobby Eaton, a lifelong Tulsan, was in attendance.
“I’m most inspired by Mother Fletcher’s and Uncle Red’s legacy and the information that they’re giving us," Eaton said, "About their lives, not only the massacre, but their lives.”
Pre-orders are available now. The book is set to hit shelves in early June.
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