Monday Murals ~ All that Jazz

This is all that is left of the first mural that grabbed my attention in Tulsa, OK. It was once black painted jazz musicians on a white background looking like something you might see in New Orleans. Now it's nearly all shades of  weathered gray.   

When I first saw this mural, which stretches the width of an expressway, we were walking back to our car after a Juneteenth concert and celebration.  My future husband had taken me to see Natalie Cole (Nat King Cole's daughter), one of my favorite singers perform back in the early 1990s. It was an outdoor concert with a mixture of people.  Even at that time, I didn't understand the meaning of Juneteenth.  

For those not in the know, it's an event commemorating the end of slavery here in the 

U.S..  "June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger, rode into Galveston, Texas with news the war had ended and the slaves in Texas were now free." - Tulsa Juneteenth, Inc.  (More info on Juneteenth here.)

The Natalie Cole Juneteenth was 30 years ago, and before that time my bestie and I went to a Juneteenth gathering probably in the mid 1980s.  I remember vividly walking into the building and standing in the lobby looking around.  We could hear the live music in the theater.  Two young ladies were looking at a bulletin board, one turned to looked at us, than turned to her friend and said load enough for us to hear,  "I didn't think they would be here!"  Taken aback, my bestie and I looked at each other and without many words decided, well we're here, lets find a seat.  The only available seats were in the middle of the theater.  We sat.  Looking for seats gave us the opportunity to scan the room. After about five minutes my bestie and I looked into each other's eyes and without speaking the words  we knew we should leave. So we did. 

(The above mural is across the street where the first two murals are and in the same style. David Duncan may be the artist as you see above.  I have been unsuccessful confirming if he is responsible for all three of these murals.)

Googling Juneteenth concerts let me know these gatherings are still going on in Tulsa.  And the photos I see don't show a diverse attendance.   I'm thankful for my first experience at Juneteenth.  I think we all should experience what it's like to be different and maybe not accepted by the majority.  Even on this small scale, you felt uncertainty and alienation.  It gives one a whole new look at what it might be like to be a minority (beside being female, which use to be and may still be considered being a minority), which some of us never experience.  I would have thought by now, in the year 2020, the races would be more gray and blended or better yet, no difference at all.  The past decade has continued to be turbulent. The attacks on police, on minorities and the organizing of Black Lives Matter along with Blue Lives Matter have all been the results of racism. Churches have also been targeted.  I hope one day this all ends.

I'm sharing these murals with Monday Murals, here.

Enjoy your day!