THE CLARA LUPER LEGACY
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
EDUCATOR
2012.201.B0366B.0546 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society, July 4, 1964.
Reverend John A. Reed Jr.
August 26, 2024
Reverend John A. Reed Jr. has passed away today at the age of 86. Reverend Reed's first sermon came when he was 19 years old, on the third Sunday night in August 1957. He then started pastoring at Fairview Missionary Baptist Church in OKC on the second Sunday in January 1963 and stayed for 62 years. His last sermon was for the 66th Clara Luper Freedom Fiesta Celebration. His spirit will live on in all of our hearts.
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2024 Freedom Fiesta Celebration
The Clara Luper Legacy Committee wishes to honor the workers and young people who participated in the Black Friday Sanitation Strike on August 19, 1969. The courage displayed during this time will always be remembered and commemorated in history.
The Freedom Fiesta Celebration, held from August 15 to 18, 2024, is an annual event dedicated to remembering the young people and advisors who initiated the sit-in movement in Oklahoma City on August 19, 1958. During this celebration, we will also recognize the workers and students who participated in the Black Friday Sanitation Strike.
Please register here if you or a family member were involved in the Black Friday Sanitation Strike and would like to be recognized. If you know other individuals who were involved, please spread the word so they too can be recognized and honored.
We encourage you to attend as many events as possible so you can be recognized. As an honoree, please arrive 25 minutes before the start of all program festivities. You will lead the march on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at 9 a.m. and be recognized by the community on Sunday, August 19, 2024, at 6 p.m.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The story of Oklahoma City's leading civil rights activist
2012.2012.B1439.0757 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society
About Us
The Clara Luper Legacy Committee works to support the sit-in and civil rights movement, Oklahoma, and the nation.
We are here to educate and
to keep the story of educator and activist, Clara Luper, alive.
Marilyn Luper Hildreth
In order to understand where we are going, we must understand where we have been. It is our responsibility to tell the story of the Oklahoma civil rights movement. My mother, Clara Luper, loved and was totally involved in her community. She believed all children could learn and referred to them as her diamonds. She always dreamed of a better day. And would say to us, "I want you to go to places I have never been and dream dreams I have never had." I would often ask her after a demonstration when people would spit on us, kick us, laugh, and call us names, "Do I have to love these people?" She would say, "You have no choice. You must love your enemies as you love yourself."