Lessie Benningfield Randle, one of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, cast her vote in the 2024 presidential election for Kamala Harris. At 109, with her 110th birthday approaching this weekend, Randle’s decision speaks to a legacy of resilience rooted in both the tragedy and triumphs of Black America.
Born in 1914, Randle was just a young girl when an angry mob of white residents destroyed Greenwood, the prosperous Black neighborhood known as Black Wall Street in 1921, killing hundreds of people and reducing 35 square blocks of thriving businesses to ashes. Randle’s choice to vote for Harris not only represents her hopes for the future but also connects her to a hard-fought history as a Black woman who has lived through both the fight for civil rights and the realities of racial terrorism.
Randle’s vote for Harris is significant, especially given the arc of her lifetime. She was born into an era when women didn’t have the right to vote and racial barriers prevented Black Americans from fully participating in democracy. It took the Voting Rights Act of 1965, after years of struggle led by advocates like Fannie Lou Hamer, to dismantle barriers like poll taxes designed to keep Black people from voting.
“If this is my last ballot, then I’m grateful that it’s for Kamala Harris,” Randle said in a statement shared with ESSENCE after casting her absentee ballot last week. “My grandchildren deserve a world where taking care of their parents isn’t a financial struggle, medication is affordable and women are free. And our children deserve a president who will inspire them to learn from history, not a tyrant who will try to erase it.”
Randle warned of a disturbing echo of past hatred in today’s political climate. “The mob that murdered my neighbors in Greenwood was so angry, and this country is at risk of allowing that same anger to take over its soul again. But voters can say no to a politician that incites white folks to turn against their darker skin neighbors. Voters can say no to giving rogue police officers full immunity to terrorize us. We can say no to the candidates who are taking away students’ freedom to learn about our country’s past. As voters, we must protect our children from politicians who believe that retribution and violence are virtues. Because I have lived through that nightmare. And trust me, we can’t afford to go back.”
Damario Solomon-Simmons, Randle’s attorney and the founder of Justice for Greenwood, expressed deep admiration for her unbreakable spirit. “After the City of Tulsa helped the white mob burn down 35 square blocks and kill hundreds of Black people, it didn’t stop there,” he said. “Officials also conspired with some of the most powerful people in Oklahoma to keep the survivors silent for generations. Because Mother Randle summoned the strength to speak up, standing up to the forces against her, the world is learning more about the Tulsa Race Massacre.”
For Solomon-Simmons and countless others in Greenwood, voting this year is about more than politics; it’s about upholding the dignity of their history. “Nobody who seeks to suppress our people’s history yet again should occupy the Oval Office,” he said. “That’s why she, and so many of us in Greenwood, are voting for Kamala Harris.”
Randle isn’t alone in this symbolic act. Viola Fletcher, the other remaining Tulsa Race Massacre survivor at 110 years old, plans to cast her vote for Harris in person today on Election Day.