Why did Ghana give citizenship to Tulsa Massacre survivors?

Published: March 14, 2023, 10:35 a.m.

b'

\\u201cI have a home now. A second home. In the United States I didn\\u2019t feel like I had a home but I feel like Ghana is a safe place to live. They treat you like a human being over there.\\u201d

At the beginning of this month, a special ceremony took place in Washington DC \\u2013 when two of the last three remaining survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre - Viola Ford Fletcher, now 108, and her younger brother Hughes Van Ellis, 102 - were both given Ghanaian citizenship.

During the massacre a white mob destroyed and looted a rich black neighbourhood in Oklahoma, USA - known as \\u2018Black Wall Street\\u2019 \\u2013 killing hundreds of people. News of the event was buried, and for decades it was hidden from history, but the siblings have been part of the process of remembering \\u2013 speaking to Congress to mark the centenary of the event.

The citizenship was offered to them by President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2021 when they fulfilled their lifelong dream of visiting Africa.

Now both say they feel grateful to have a safe \\u2018home\\u2019 to turn to.

Akwasi Sarpong speaks to them and their grandson Ike for Africa Daily.

'