Charlie Wilson, lead singer of the GAP Band, explained that the band’s name originally stood for Greenwood, Archer, and Pine, referencing the Black community in Tulsa that was destroyed during the 1921 race massacre. He said the name was chosen to honor Greenwood’s history as a prosperous neighborhood with banks, hospitals, and businesses before it was violently attacked.
Wilson also shared what he learned from Lucille Figures, a survivor who was 12 at the time. She witnessed the violence firsthand and avoided speaking about it for decades. Before she died, she entrusted Wilson with her story, making him promise to keep it private until after her passing.
Although the band’s song “Drop the Bomb” was not written about the massacre, its renewed popularity has brought attention to Greenwood’s history, helping people remember an event many older survivors avoided discussing.
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