To better understand how Greenwood’s past resonates in the present, we interviewed three women who have deep connections to Greenwood.

We asked them to reflect on what and when they learned about Historic Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Massacre. They also told us what they think the future of Greenwood looks like.

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In 2003, Gina Woods came to Tulsa for Bible college and stayed.  The St. Louis Native started out in Greenwood working in and then owning a bail bonds company. Last year, she opened the Loc Shop. 

“When you read the stories of Black people in Tulsa and of Black women like Madam C.J. Walker and Sarah Spencer, more broadly, it’s hard not be inspired.”

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Cheyenne McKinney is a Tulsa Native and a mighty hornet of Tulsa’s famous Booker T. Washington High School. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.  In 2019, she opened a boxing gym in Greenwood. 

“When it comes to the Massacre, I realized that I didn’t really cherish the ground I was standing on until I did my own research.”

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Jennifer King is the grandniece of several Black Wall Street business leaders: Pressley (Preston) Little, Mabel Little, and Susie Bell. She manages the marketing department for a commercial law firm. In her spare time, she researches her family history.  After a ton of interest, she recreated Susie Bell’s famous smothered chicken recipe. 

“I noticed that in write-ups about Greenwood, my uncle, Pressley Little, was described as the sole owner of the Bell and Little Café.  Through our oral family history, though, I knew that his sister, Susie bell, was also a co-owner.”