TULSA, Okla. — The U.S. Senate advanced S.3543, the bill that would establish Tulsa’s Greenwood District, often referred to as Black Wall Street, as a national monument.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee unanimously voted to advance the bipartisan legislation.

“The successful Senate markup presents a profound opportunity for our nation to honor the legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre while the remaining survivors are still here,” said Tiffany Crutcher, the executive director of the Terence Crutcher Foundation and a massacre descendent. “For the sake of these living witnesses to history and future generations, Congress and the President must act swiftly to ensure Greenwood’s story is enshrined and its lessons never forgotten.”

The bill is sponsored by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and will now move to the Senate floor for a full vote.

With only two survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre still alive today, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher who are both 110, there’s a further urgency to get the legislation passed so both women are able to witness the milestone.

Dr. Crutcher co-leads the Historic Greenwood-Black Wall Street Coalition, a group of over 11 Tulsa organizations who have been advocating to establish Black Wall Street as a national monument for several years.

After President Biden became the first sitting United States president to visit Black Wall Street in 2021, the coalition have urged him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Black Wall Street as a federal monument.

Reuben Grant, executive director of the John Hope Franklin Center and the other co-leader of the Historic Greenwood-Black Wall Street Coalition, was optimistic about the bill’s vote for advancement.

“Today’s committee vote proves that Greenwood’s story resonates far beyond Tulsa. This is a moment of national reckoning with our history. The families who built Black Wall Street through ingenuity, hard work and perseverance represented the best of America. By understanding how racist hatred and violence destroyed their rousing success story, we can emerge as a stronger, more connected nation on the other side.”