Event with Fire in Little Africa, Greenwood Art Project commemorates the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Greenwood neighborhood

A band (singer, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer) performs on a stage with the words "Mercury Lounge" in neon behind them.

FILA artist Ray June performs at the Mercury Lounge. Photo: Ryan Cass

History will livestream from our lawn this Saturday.

Oklahoma Contemporary, Fire in Little Africa and Greenwood Art Project have joined forces to present a powerful, healing event, commemorating the Tulsa Race Massacre and the history of the Greenwood neighborhood. The evening of music and memory includes more than 30 artists from hip-hop project Fire in Little Africa as well as the G.A.P. Van, Greenwood Art Project’s mobile exhibition.

Organized by the Woody Guthrie Center^® and Bob Dylan Center^®, Fire in Little Africa brings together Oklahoma's top rappers, singers, musicians and visual artists in an album and documentary to mark the centennial of the 1921 Massacre and introduce Tulsa’s hip-hop culture to a global audience. (Fire in Little Africa recently announced a deal with Motown/Black Forum Records.)

Jabee will emcee the Oklahoma Contemporary event, which features performances from Steph Simon, Dialtone, St. Domonick, Ayilla, Hakeem Eli’Juwon, Ausha LaCole, Tony Foster Jr, Ray June and more, backed by the Fire in Little Africa band.

In-person tickets (both free lawn and VIP terrace seating) are sold out, but you can watch the livestream on our website, on Fire in Little Africa's and Oklahoma Contemporary's Facebook pages and on Fire in Little Africa's YouTube channel.

“Fire in Little Africa is a project of explosive creativity and extraordinary scale,” says Oklahoma Contemporary Artistic Director Jeremiah Matthew Davis. “The artists who comprise the new collective have courageously banded together to meet this moment — the centennial commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre. This important project and forthcoming album speak to the ability of contemporary artists not only to interpret the world as it is so we can better appreciate the present, but to wrangle with the world as it was so we can draw lessons from the past.”

Can't wait for Saturday? Catch a trailer for Fire in Little Africa's documentary and album -- much of which will be played live for the first time Saturday -- and excerpts from the acapella series Sounds of FILA below. And you can watch M.C., Steph Simon and Shyheim live from our stage Saturday.