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Lessie Benningfield Randle, one of the two last known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, turned 110 on Sunday (November 10).
According to ABC News, "Mother Randle" celebrated her 110th birthday surrounded by family, friends, and community members at a commemoration event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Born in 1914, Randle was just a young girl when a white mob attacked Tulsa's Greenwood district, a thriving Black neighborhood home to "Black Wall Street."
"Mother Randle has done a tremendous job of opening the country's eyes to the horrors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, its enduring impact, and the need for accountability and restitution. And she's made it clear that she's not done yet," Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for the survivors, said in a statement. "At 110 years old, Mother Randle is still challenging America to live up to its purported values, which is the true measure of a patriot. She is not only living history -- she is a source of inspiration and one of the strongest people I know."
Viola "Mother" Fletcher, 110, is the oldest and only other known living surviving of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Another survivor, Hugh Van Ellis, died on October 9, 2023 at 102. Fletcher attended Randle's birthday celebration on Sunday.
"It's a beautiful day," Randle's grandson, Antonio Randle, said of the celebration. "This is once in a lifetime type of deal, and to have two of them still here at 110 is incredible."
Mother Randle's 110th birthday comes after the Department of Justice announced in September the first-ever federal review of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke called the incident "one of the deadliest episodes of mass racial violence in this nation's history."
"I've been hearing about it my entire life," Randle's grandson said of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
"To see it all unfolding … words can't express, you know, some of the gratification that you have," he added, referring to the DOJ's inquiry. "It's just a wonderful time, man, in American history."
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