‘Our now-weary bodies have held on’: 109-year-old Tulsa massacre survivors get day in court

Viola Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, in Washington DC on 19 June 2023. Photograph: Shuran Huang/The Guardian

The two remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, thought to be the worst single act of white supremacist violence against African Americans in US history, attended a momentous hearing on Tuesday. The supreme court of Oklahoma considered an appeal in what is almost certainly the women’s final shot at reparative justice.

Lessie Benningfield Randle, dressed all in black, and Viola Fletcher, huddled under a mauve woollen blanket, listened intently as lawyers engaged in technical legal arguments for almost two hours. It was no small feat, given that both women are 109.