WATCH: Oldest Living Survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre 107 Year Old Viola Fletcher Testifies Before House Committee

Viola Fletcher recently turned 107 years old and is making her first visit to the nation’s capital today. These are details she shared during testimony before a House Committee Hearing focused on the Tulsa-Greenwood Race massacre — which occurred 100 years ago on May 31, 1921.

“I hear the screams,” she testified. “I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.”

Ms. Fletcher was just seven years old when she was forced to evacuate her home in 1921, details of which she shared before the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Steve Cohen. The reason she and her family had to hastily exit her home, and the city of Tulsa, is a stain on US History, as it was a racial massacre led by white supremacists that killed roughly 300 Black American citizens.

The Greenwood area of Tulsa was a thriving community for Black Americans, and was even known as “Black Wall Street.” The 35-square-block Greenwood District that was eventually burned to the ground by the military-grade attack (which included warplanes was the target of the violent attack because black prosperity was seen as a threat to white supremacy.

It is a great shame that for many, the Tulsa massacre was never taught in schools. I grew up in the town of Hutchinson, Kansas, just three hours drive from Tulsa, which I often visited for swim and wrestling meets. I was not familiar with that horrible day in American history until recent years — and many Americans didn’t learn about it until they watched its recreation in the opening scene of HBO’s prophetic series The Watchmen.

Yes, I was ignorant of this story, as are millions of other Americans. Credit to the House Judiciary Committee hearing for bringing attention to this issue, but more importantly, infinite respect to Ms. Fletcher for her grace and resistance on display in her testimony before the government who did not serve her or her family justly, 100 years ago today.

Watch above via PBS.