Sunday, May 31, 2020 — The National African Reparations Commission (NAARC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) hosted a virtual forum with leaders from around the country to discuss one of the most important issues critical to the pursuit of racial justice in America.
Many Americans learned about the Tulsa massacre when it was dramatized on the HBO superhero series Watchmen. To the people who lost their homes, businesses, and lives it was no fantasy – it was a real-life horror story. Whites attempted to destroy the entire Black community in Tulsa.
The survivors and descendants of the massacred Black families in Tulsa continue to struggle for justice and attempt to repair the intergenerational trauma and lost wealth in the community.
On May 31, 1921, the massacre and destruction began. On May 31, 2020, scholars, activists, artists, and other leaders addressed why the City of Tulsa must pay massacre victims reparations and Congress must pass H.R. 40 – a bill that would establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery and its legacy and make recommendations to Congress for reparations.
Some of the esteemed leaders and participants include:
- Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, Founder, Terence Crutcher Foundation
- Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Lead Sponsor of H.R. 40
- Dr. Ron Daniels, Convener, National African American Reparations Commission
- Jeffery Robinson, Deputy Legal Director, Director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality, National ACLU
- Nicole Austin-Hillery, Executive Director of the US Program, Human Rights Watch
- Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
- District 1 City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper
- Oklahoma State Representative Regina Goodwin
- Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President Emeritus, Bennett College for Women
- Montague Simmons, Movement for Black Lives Policy Table
- Kamm Howard, National Co-Chairperson, National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA)
- Nkechi Taifa, Esq., Civil Rights/Human Rights Attorney & Convener, Justice Roundtable
- Jasiri X, Hip-hop artist/activist
Hosts:
- National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC)
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Partners:
- African Ancestral Society
- Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church
- Met Cares Foundation
- Solomon Simmons Law
- Terence Crutcher Foundation
- Tulsa Community Remembrance Coalition
- ACLU of Oklahoma
- The Who We Are Project
