Crooked Roots sends flowers to Greenwood
Jun. 16—It was about creating a space for healing, for love, and for beauty.
In the weeks leading up to the Tulsa Race Massacre centennial commemoration tensions were high. But in the midst of the chaos and emotion, a unique project was orchestrated- Send Flowers to Greenwood.
From the moment she saw the idea, Bailey Robinson, owner of Crooked Roots Design in Claremore, knew she had to get involved.
The project was simple, but the impact was profound.
"The creators of Send Flowers to Greenwood, The Wild Mother Creative Studio, are fellow florists in the Oklahoma wedding industry. Despite it being a large industry, It's a rather tight knit group," she said. "So, I've known them and respected their work for many years. When they began promoting the project, I knew I had to participate. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most significant historical events to have occurred in this state. And yet it's one that I wasn't taught in school."
She added, "After such a turbulent year full of controversy and heartache, the opportunity to share love and healing through the floral medium sounded like a much-needed project. One hundred years after that event we are still facing a lot of the same issues. So, I wanted to do my part."
Robinson said as a florist, she loves getting to put smiles on people's faces.
"There was a moment in the week leading up to the event where a lot of things were going wrong," she said. "Parts of the event were being cancelled and it was looking like things weren't turning out in a way that would have the impact we hoped for."
But that wasn't the case. The project, she said, had a profound impact and she considers herself lucky to have played a part.
"There's so much controversy and so many tumultuous feelings about this, so getting to bring something purely of love and beauty was a gift," she said. "People needed this healing."
Adjacent to the historic Greenwood Ave., are the "steps to nowhere." The rubbled remains of what would have been the homes of the Black Greenwood community residents.
"The flower installation on the steps to nowhere had the biggest impact on me," she said.
Robinson said the installation was meant to be an immersive experience.
"This was hallowed ground," she said, adding that after project coordinator X mapped out her vision for the space the floral designers and volunteers all fell quiet in respect for the place and time.
"We sat there, in a meditative way, before we got to work installing flowers in the space," she said. "It was beautiful to see that people added to the experience. They added stuffed animals and silk flowers. They ran to the store and purchased their own fresh flowers to add. This told me it wasn't just something beautiful for people to drive by and see, it was something they needed. They wanted to take part in bringing beauty and love."
She said it was an honor to hold space for healing in the midst of justified anger.
"After watching everything that happened in 2020, it's been on my mind" she said. "We live in an age where people post rants to social media and that's their version of activism. I attended some protests, but I have been asking myself, what have I really done to make things better? How have I gotten involved? It's not often I find a way to get involved with my unique skill set. Social impact through floral design is a rare opportunity but it's one I wasn't about to pass up."
