Fire In Little Africa

A multimedia hip-hop endeavor centered on the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, Fire in Little Africa originated with Stevie “Dr. View” Johnson, a DJ, producer, academic, and community organizer. The native of Longview, Texas, arrived in Norman, Oklahoma, in 2007 to enroll at the University of Oklahoma. Upon completing a PhD in Higher Education Administration, Johnson relocated with his family to Tulsa, where he assumed the role of manager of education and diversity outreach at the Woody Guthrie Center and the Bob Dylan Center. Motivated to honor and illuminate the violent racist assault that had occurred a century earlier in his adopted city, he began by enlisting local Tulsan artists Steph Simon, Dialtone, and St. Domonick. Drawing from the spontaneous, collective spirit of J. Cole’s Dreamville compilations, the roster of contributors—rappers, poets, musicians, and producers—eventually surpassed sixty participants, among them Tulsan funk legend Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band. Recording took place over a concentrated five-day stretch in March 2020. A partnership with Motown followed, resulting in the May 2021 release of the self-titled album on the label’s long-inactive Black Forum imprint, whose early-1970s catalog featured spoken-word recordings by Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Elaine Brown. The initiative further grew to encompass a documentary, a podcast, and specialized curricula designed for varied educational contexts.