E37: All-Black Towns of Oklahoma

Diary of a Nation

Oklahoma is home to more historic All-Black towns than any other state. At its height, there were more than 50 such towns. Today, there are 13.

Osborne Celestain, Jr. is the director of the Tulsa chapter of the Major Taylor Cycling Club of Oklahoma. This spring, he pedaled 600 miles to visit each of the 13 remaining All-Black towns. I interviewed Osborne at the Fulton Street Books and Coffee Shop in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, a thriving Black neighborhood, once known as Black Wall Street. In the spring of 1921, a white mob nearly destroyed the Greenwood community. The event would come to be known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. The story of the massacre was suppressed for generations, until the late 1990s, when a state commission was formed to investigate the events. The Mayor Taylor Cycling Club organizes annual rides to commemorate the Tulsa Race Massacre and to tour the All-Black towns.

Check out Osborne’s ride map to trace his 600-mile tour of the 13 historic All-Black towns. The book mentioned in the podcast episode is Acres of Aspiration by Hannibal B. Johnson.