ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Black History Month is a prime time for schools to share stories of struggles, hopes and dreams. Students at Rochester's School of the Arts are in final rehearsals for a play about the triumph of survival in the south.

“Getting to even explore this piece on the SOTA stage, nothing like this play has ever really been done here,” said Ajamu Brooks, SOTA class of 2012 and director of False Creeds.

What You Need To Know

  • School of the Arts drama students present "False Creeds," a play based on the real-life Tulsa Massacre in 1921

  • The play follows the character Jason as he witnesses one night of terror and destruction through the eyes of his grandmother

  • During the Tulsa Massacre in 1921, a white mob attacked residents, homes and businesses in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma

School of the Arts Black Box Theatre's stage is set for a 1921 portrait of a predominately African American neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

False Creeds is a historical drama based on a real-life tragedy that not everyone knows about or even learned about in school -- the Tulsa Massacre.

“I think it is important that we know that it happened,” said Ajamu Brooks.

The show’s director is 2012 SOTA grad Ajamu Brooks. His cousin, Darren Canady, wrote the play.

“I knew about the Tulsa Massacre because it has a direct effect of my family,” Brooks said. “My family is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is a part of the displacement that got us here to Rochester, New York.”

Annan Bates plays the character Jason who discovered that his grandmother survived that night of terror.

“The whole Tulsa thing was a whole block of businesses owned by Black people, and it was burned down in 1921,” said Bates.

Junior Blaire Williams says she never heard of the Tulsa Massacre until she got a part in the play.

“I feel like it is a story that should be heard since most people don’t know about the Tulsa massacre and how there was a prosperous Black community at one point, and they just got wiped out,” said Williams.

That is why SOTA chose this production. They want students to explore and talk about a raw part of history. School of the Arts students in grades 7 through 12 are in this performance. It’s a heavy and deep story so is suggested for mature audiences.

False Creeds opens Friday. Performances are on Feb. 10, 11, 16 and 17. You can purchase tickets online at boxoffice.sotarochester.org.