“Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten” explores the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the most horrific incidents of racial violence in American history.
Directed by Jonathan Silvers, and reported by The Washington Post’s DeNeen L. Brown. “Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten” looks back at the explosion of violence when the once prosperous neighborhood known as “Black Wall Street” was destroyed by a mob of white residents. Hundreds of Black-owned businesses and homes in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, were burnt to the ground, killing an estimated 100-300 Black residents and leaving an estimated 10,000 Black residents homeless.This 90-minute documentary, narrated by Emmy-winning journalist Michel Martin, Amanpour and Company contributor and weekend host of NPR’s All Things Considered, also chronicles present-day public efforts to memorialize the Tulsa Race Massacre and other racial violence around the country, and how Black and white communities view such efforts.
Brown, who was inspired by her own personal connection to Tulsa, investigates the deadly assault and racial atrocity that has gone without punishment by the law as she explores issues of atonement, reconciliation and reparation in the past, present and future through the historical lens of white violence and Black resistance. Brown sits down with descendants of Greenwood residents, business owners and today’s community activists for an honest conversation on the community’s demands for reparations and the efforts to revive the Black district of Greenwood through education, technology, business development and more.
“Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten” features interviews with civil rights activists, lawyers, Black community leaders, archaeologists, anthropologists and historians. The documentary also features a moving performance from Tulsa native artist Majeste Pearson, who is scheduled to perform the Black national anthem on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
As the country continues to reflect on the shocking murders and arson that took place from May 31 – June 1, 1921, and considers more recent incidents of social injustice like the killing of George Floyd last May, the new documentary “Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten” premieres Monday, May 31 at 8 p.m.
