Being released in conjunction with New York-based Isotopia Records, headed by Constance Hauman, 1921 … The Black Wall Street Music Project was executive produced by Fred Jones, Thornell Jones Jr. and Guy Troupe. Partners in the project include The Hille Foundation, Osage Casinos and Spirit Bank. Jones is the founder of One Tulsa LLC, whose divisions encompass broadcast, digital and print media, marketing, artist management and philanthropy. Jones, who envisioned the music project three years ago, has close ties to the Tulsa Race Massacre. His grandmother Maggie Jones was in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, 25 miles away from Greenwood, when the riot started.
“I remember my grandmother saying they could see the smoke as the city burned for three days,” says Jones. “The massacre was about money and the economic power that Black Wall Street had. Black people were hiring Black people. You didn’t have to be treated as a secondhand citizen or be subjected to racial slurs. I want people to realize what really happened and see the resilience of a community.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Jones Jr. adds, “In order for us as a people to move forward, we have to unify behind the message of Tulsa, the country and the world. This album speaks to the horrors of the massacre and the destruction. But it’s really an allegory because it’s telling young people to be fired up, be the best they can be and walk in the steps of their ancestors.”
