Bobby Eaton Sr., a staunch champion of civil rights in Tulsa, died Thursday. He was 90 years old.
He was the son of Joseph Eaton, a 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre survivor whose barbershop was one of several businesses that thrived in the years after the massacre. That barbershop, which was often a site for social justice strategizing, is featured at the Greenwood Rising museum.
“My daddy’s been a soldier in our community,” Eaton’s son and owner of Eaton Media Services, Bobby Eaton Jr., told The Eagle.
Eaton Sr. often shared his family’s story of resilience and prosperity. He also advocated for improvements in the north Tulsa community and was arrested in the 1960s while protesting a whites-only cafe at the former Northland Shopping Center.
As the city, and the world, commemorated the centennial of the massacre in 2021, Eaton Sr. advised, “Squeaking wheels get oil. If you don’t squeak, they don’t think anything’s wrong. Get to squeaking.”
Prominent figures, like the late Don Ross and Bernard McIntyre, came up under the tutelage of Eaton Sr. and spent time at the family’s barbershop. He was “like the Godfather” to them, Eaton Jr. said.
“These iconic Black men would get in there and they would strategize about protesting restaurants and school boards,” he said. “He taught Don Ross and Bernard McIntyre a lot. He taught us all a lot and a lot of him lives inside of us. That’s part of his legacy.”
