Trump Rally in Tulsa, A Day After Juneteenth, Awakens Memories of 1921 Racist Massacre

Trump Rally in Tulsa, A Day After Juneteenth, Awakens Memories of 1921 Racist Massacre AOC New Humanism

For only the second time in a century, the world’s attention is focused on Tulsa, Okla. You would be forgiven for thinking Tulsa is a sleepy town “where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain,” in the words of the musical Oklahoma!.

But Tulsa was the site of one of the worst episodes of racial violence in American history, and a long, arduous process of reconciliation over the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was jarred by President Donald Trump’s decision to hold his first campaign rally there since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The city is on edge. Emotions are raw. There’s anxiety about a spike in coronavirus cases, but lurking even deeper in the collective psyche is a fear that history could repeat itself. Tens of thousands of Trump supporters will gather close to a neighbourhood still reckoning with a white invasion that claimed hundreds of Black lives.

A Trump rally near a site of a race massacre during a global pandemic already sounded like a recipe for a dangerous social experiment. But then there was the matter of timing. The rally was to be held on Juneteenth (June 19), a holiday commemorating the day slaves in the western portion of the Confederacy finally gained their freedom.

Normally, Juneteenth in Tulsa is one big party, the rare event that brings white and Black Oklahomans together. But fears about spreading COVID-19 led organizers to cancel the event. Then came the protests over the murder of George Floyd. During those demonstrations in Tulsa, a truck ran through a blockade of traffic, causing one demonstrator to fall from a bridge. He is paralyzed from the waist down.

Burberry Pre-Fall 2020 Campaign with Irina Shayk and Reece Nelson by Danko Steiner

Burberry Pre-Fall 2020 Campaign with Irina Shayk and Reece Nelson by Danko Steiner

Riccardo Tisci became Chief Creative Officer of Burberry in spring 2018, tasked with creating a modern sensibility around the distinctive British heritage brand. One of the designer’s favorite themes is duality or ‘mirroring’ as it’s also called.

 “I have always been drawn to the notion of duality and viewing things from two perspectives – bringing a depth and contrast to a person or a concept. This campaign explores this idea of mirroring, a theme which I established as a house code in the new Burberry identity,” Tisci explains.

In the time of gender fluidity and ambiguity — and rejection — of any actual definition of gender, Tisci enlists photographer Danko Steiner to photograph his pre-Fall 2020 collection. Unlike Alessandro Michele at Gucci or Michael Kors, Riccardo Tisci is not simplifying the number of collections presented each year — at least for now.

The pre-Fall 2020 campaign features Burberry favorites Irina Shayk and Reece Nelson pictured with their look-alike selves, styled by Ana Steiner.