'Defending Greenwood': How a Student Composer Commemorated the Tulsa Race Massacre Through Music
Jackson Waters' (Steinhardt '24 ) orchestral symphony Defending Greenwood was written in memory of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
By the end of that incident of racialized violence—one of the worst in American history—white mobs had killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed the thriving Tulsa business district that had been known as “Black Wall Street.”Inspired by history passed down from his mother, Jackson wants to shed light on tragedies he didn't learn about in school growing up.
The NYU orchestra premieired the third movement from Waters’ work at the Skirball Center this spring.
Learn about his approach to commemoration through music in the video below.
Jackson Waters' (Steinhardt '24 ) orchestral symphony Defending Greenwood was written in memory of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. By the end of that incident of racialized violence—one of the worst in American history—white mobs had killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed the thriving Tulsa business district that had been known as “Black Wall Street.”
Inspired by history passed down from his mother, Jackson wants to shed light on tragedies he didn't learn about in school growing up. The NYU orchestra premieired the third movement from Waters’ work at the Skirball Center this spring. Learn about his approach to commemoration through music in the video below.
