To commemorate the lives lost and continue the fight for racial equality, 15 pro-Black gun rights organizations descended on the town and encouraged their communities to take advantage of the right to bear arms for self-defense. The march, considered one of the largest recent gatherings of Black gun rights activists, included: The New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the Huey P. Newton Gun Club, the Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt Pistol and Rifle Gun Club of Central Texas, the Anubis Arms Gun Club, and the Panther Special Operations Command.
"We are tired of begging,” Nick Bezzel, the co-leader of the Pratt Gun Club, told Tulsa ABC affiliate News Channel 8. “Our ancestors deserve nothing less than our strongest efforts.”
Some of the gun rights advocates later joined the Tulsa Race Massacre Legacy Fest, another peaceful march organized to mark the centennial. Three survivors of the massacre led the march in a horse-drawn carriage: Lessie Benningfield Randle, Ellis Van Hughes, and Viola Ford Fletcher. Fletcher, the oldest living survivor at age 107, advocated for the national recognition of the Tulsa riots with a written testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives on May 19.
“We must honor those that are still living from the bombing, which includes Mother Fletcher,” Balogun told VICE News. “Fletcher has demanded reparations for the community; she and others have demanded acknowledgement from the U.S. government as related to the massacre. We have to continue to fight on behalf of those who have not received justice until the day of atonement comes.”
Members of the Black Panther Party and other armed demonstrators rally in the Greenwood district during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 29, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Members of the Black Panther Party and other armed demonstrators rally in the Greenwood district during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 29, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Tulsa Police Department officers speak with demonstrators during a Second Amendment Armed Mass March For Self-Defense in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Children look on as members of the Black Panther Party and other armed demonstrators rally in the Greenwood district during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 29, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. May 31st of this year marks the centennial of when a white mob started looting, burning and murdering in Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood, then known as Black Wall Street, killing up to 300 people and displacing thousands more. Organizations and communities around Tulsa are preparing to honor and commemorate survivors and community residents. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Members of the Black Panther Party and other armed demonstrators rally in the Greenwood district during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 29, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)