James and I went to 31st and Riverside for a very special event: Tulsa Race Riot Reconciliation. The African American community in Tulsa attempts to use the river, a nature witness of the racial burning and killing that occurred in May 31 and June 1, 1921 to reunited the "one" spirit which is defined by ritual practice, singing, dancing, and storytelling.
The audience are invited to join the circle, dancing with drums beating. The offerings to the river included water melon carved into a turned bowl, a coconut, split and sprayed over us, a jar of honey, small drops of sweet life, and flowers, from our ancestry to the river. Everyone holding a flower shouted " a ye" as we threw the flowers down into the river. The floating flowers are so beautifully disappearing that the river might forgive that once upon a time men threw corpses into the river. Reconciliation is to remember, not to forget. Through understanding and kindness, we will be one.
That evening, my son had a terrible car accident on Riverside Drive resulted in total lost the car. He and the passenger suffered bad cuts and bruises but alive. Some how I thanks the river spirit. Yashe!
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