Viola Fletcher was seven years old when she witnessed one of worst acts of racial violence the US has ever seen.
An angry mob rampaged through Tulsa's Greenwood District in Oklahoma, killing hundreds of Black people and leaving her thriving neighborhood in ashes in 1921.
The 107-year-old testified before members of a House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday, calling for justice and for the country to officially acknowledge the massacre ahead of the 100th anniversary on May 31.
"I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire," Fletcher testified. "I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the Massacre every day."
The Tulsa race riot of 1921, also called the Tulsa race massacre, resulted in the decimation of the city's Greenwood district -- then a Black economic hub also known as Black Wall Street -- when a mob of White rioters looted and burned the community. Contemporary reports of deaths began at 36, but historians now believe as many as 300 people died, according to the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum. Historical photos also show bodies of Black residents lying in the streets.
"I am 107 years old and have never seen justice. I pray that one day I will. I have been blessed with a long life -- and have seen the best and worst of this country. I think about the terror inflicted upon Black people in this country every day," Fletcher said.
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