(A brief moment of silence, then the music subtly shifts to the instrumental of “Why Should We Demand Reparations?”)

She was a classic trend. A trailblazer. From her beginning to her end, she was a survivor.

She endured near-death situations that would make most souls despair. The massive infernos. The haunted cries. The tarnished screams that no child should ever have to hear… and no child should ever have to endure.

In 1921, in a place referred to as a village—a village that raised children to merge into a prosperous community called Black Wall Street, in the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma—a seven-year-old girl named Viola Ford Fletcher saw the world burn. She saw the burning flashes, saw women and children running for their lives in a mass riot, a race war, fought over a lie. A tragedy for something her people did not do.

But she survived.

And she carried that story for a lifetime. She grew to become Mama Fletcher, and she stood up—she stood up in the halls of Congress—and she told her truth. She published a book with a plea: "Please, do not bury my story."

When Congress turned her down, and even the Supreme Court turned away, it did not silence her. She told her truth anyway. She stood alongside a group of survivors, many of whom had now given their souls to time and had gone to the promised land. We trust they now stand at those pearly gates.

But before that final journey, she was inducted, she returned to her motherland of Ghana, and she reclaimed her name. Naa Lamiley—"Somebody who is strong. Somebody who stands the test of time." And Naa Yaoteley—"the first female child in a family or bloodline."

These names… they speak for themselves.

And on this day, we remember her. We feel her spirit leap over us in a final victory lap. A lap of inspection, of waves, of music, of entertainment.

It is in this spirit that we, Black Pearl, dedicated our 2023 album, “Reparations,” to her and to the people of Tulsa. On that album, there is a piece—a poetry of spoken word over a solemn instrumental. It asks the question that defined her fight:

“Why should we demand reparations?”

This composition, played by Ross M and produced by the brilliant Jahmala Downer of Job Line Music, was our offering. The entire configuration of that album was built to honor her story, with our vocals and spoken words serving as a vessel for her truth.

And so, in dedication to Mrs. Viola Ford Fletcher, to the people of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and to all who endured that massacre… this is for you.

(Monologue ends. The instrumental of “Why Should We Demand Reparations?” swells gently and then begins to fade out.)

Of course. Here is a concise summary emphasizing your role as Black Pearl in this tribute.