Jackson Free Press

Sista Old School the Griot Lady: "Welcome to Clubb Chicken Wing's first annual Pre-Juneteenth Celebration and Disco. As your DJ for this affair, my goal is to entertain and educate the masses through old-school dance music. I'd like to call it 'Booty Poppin' and Knowledge Droppin', or 'Shake What Your Ancestors Gave You.'

"Before we shake our booties with a purpose, I want to share with you a quick story about a violent race riot that happened in Tulsa, Okla., around May 31, 1921, in a prosperous black community called 'Black Wall Street.'

"The race riot started after a black male accidentally fell onto a white female elevator operator, who screamed for help. As you might guess, the black male was accused of assaulting the white female. The Tulsa Tribune paper got the news, distorted the event and called for a lynching of the black male.

"Blacks armed themselves and joined forces to protect the accused black male. Subsequently, whites armed themselves and confronted the blacks. An argument occurred, a gun went off, and a race riot was on like a pot of neck bones in a crock pot. Eventually, a mob of white people burned down and destroyed the prosperous black community of Greenwood, aka 'Black Wall Street.'

"This tragic event inspired members of the legendary GAP Band (also from Tulsa, Okla.) to write and perform the R&B classic 'You Dropped a Bomb on Me.'

"Now that you got the knowledge, shake what your ancestors gave you."