TULSA – Lessie Benningfield Randle, one of the two last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, announced today (Nov. 1) that she has cast her ballot for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race. Voting for Harris was a proud moment for Randle, who turns 110 on Nov. 10. Born in 1914, she was just a young girl when the prosperous Black community of Greenwood, also known as Black Wall Street, was razed to the ground in one of the most heinous episodes of racial violence in US history.
Voting for Harris has taken on particular significance for Benningfield, considering that at the time of her birth, women didn’t have the right to vote. It wasn’t until President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and the racial terror that kept Black people from the ballot box were outlawed, thanks to advocates such as Fannie Lou Hamer.
“I don’t know how much longer I have left. But if this is my last ballot, then I’m grateful that it’s for Kamala Harris,” Ms. Benningfield, who cast an absentee ballot, said in a statement issued today. “I have five children and more than 20 grandbabies. VP Harris has the better chance of building the nation I want them to inherit.
“My grandchildren deserve a world where taking care of their parents isn’t a financial struggle, medication is affordable, and women are free. And all of our children deserve a president who will inspire them to learn from history, not a tyrant who will try to erase it.”
“The mob that murdered my neighbors in Greenwood was so angry, and this country is at risk of allowing that same anger to take over its soul again. But voters can say no to a politician that incites white folks to turn against their darker skin neighbors. Voters can say no to giving rogue police officers full immunity to terrorize us. We can say no to the candidates who are taking away students’ freedom to learn about our country’s past. As voters, we must protect our children from politicians who believe that retribution and violence are virtues. Because I have lived through that nightmare. And trust me, we can’t afford to go back.”
Damario Solomon-Simmons, lead attorney for Ms. Randle and founder of Justice for Greenwood, is inspired by her courage. “After the City of Tulsa helped the white mob burn down 35 square blocks and kill hundreds of Black people, it didn’t stop there,” he said. “Officials also conspired with some of the most powerful people in Oklahoma to keep the survivors silent for generations. Because Mother Randle summoned the strength to speak up, standing up to the forces against her, the world is learning more about the Tulsa Race Massacre.”
“Nobody who seeks to suppress our people’s history yet again should occupy the Oval Office. That’s why she, and so many of us in Greenwood, are voting for Kamala Harris.”
Along with Ms. Benningfield, there is one other living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre – 110-year-old Viola Fletcher. She plans to vote for Ms. Harris in person on Election Day.
ABOUT THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE
The Tulsa Race Massacre took place in 1921 when a mob of white individuals, deputized and armed by municipal and county officials, killed, looted, and burned down the Greenwood area. The Massacre resulted in the murder of more than 300 Tulsans and the destruction of the prosperous Greenwood neighborhood, often referred to as “Black Wall Street.”
ABOUT GREENWOOD
Greenwood, most revered for “Black Wall Street” was co-founded by Black Creeks—it became one of the most prosperous, organized, and successful Black communities in United States history, and a place for Black people to escape the political, economic, and social oppression of southern lawmakers post-civil war.
ABOUT JUSTICE FOR GREENWOOD
Justice for Greenwood is a grassroots, 501(c)(3) organization with a big vision: to get Respect, Reparations, and Repair for the Greenwood community for the near century of historical omissions and continued harm caused by the 1921 Massacre, through survivor and descendant support, public education, and advocacy.
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