Site Unseen

  • Black Placemaking
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  • Panhandle Oklahoma
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  • 11:00AM
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  • Collaborative Self
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  • Mother's Prayer
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  • Site Unseen
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  • The Promise Land
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  • Ethiopian-American
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  • Domestic Borders
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  • Security Theater
  • About

 

I am available for commission work, collaborative projects, and teaching. Contact me at eyakemg@gmail.com

 
At the turn of the 20th century Tulsa Oklahoma was dubbed the “Oil Capital of the world” and the “City of Dreams”. Many came here looking for the opportunity to make money; among these were African Americans coming from southern states where racism was prevalent. They settled in North Tulsa. Their businesses grew, and the area soon became known as Black Wall Street. In 1921 the bloody Tulsa Race Riot broke out, devastating African American communities. More than one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed; credible estimates of deaths range from fifty to three hundred. “It is believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” The legacy of this violence continues today to be a sensitive subject that bears commemorating.