25/11/2025
Black With No Chaser extends our deepest condolences to the family, loved ones, and community of Mother Viola Fletcher, the nation’s oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, who has transitioned at the age of 111. We honor her life, her courage, and her unwavering commitment to truth-telling in the face of one of the darkest chapters in American history.
Mother Fletcher was just seven years old when white vigilantes descended upon Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, burning homes, destroying businesses, and killing hundreds of Black residents. She lived her entire life with the memories of that terror, yet she refused to let silence or erasure be her story. For decades, the world knew little about what happened in Tulsa because survivors were forced into silence. But Mother Fletcher broke through that silence with courage.
In 2021, at 107 years old, she testified before Congress, describing how her childhood was stolen and how the trauma endured across generations. Her voice helped reignite a national conversation about justice, reparations, and the responsibility America holds in acknowledging and repairing the harms done to Black communities. She became a global symbol of resilience, resistance, and truth.
Mother Fletcher lived long enough to see her story reshape public memory. She wrote her memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, ensuring the world would hear from her directly. She reminded us that history is not distant..it breathes through the lives of those who survived it.
Black With No Chaser honors Mother Fletcher not only as a survivor, but as a leader, a storyteller, and a matriarch of our collective struggle. She embodied the spirit of everything BWNC stands for. We lift her family in love and solidarity during this time of grief. May her legacy continue to guide us. Rest in power.
✍🏾 Angela Dennis
