Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook is producing a documentary series about the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, according to Variety’s Will Throne.
What We Know:
- Westbrook will be the executive producer of Terror In Tulsa: The Rise And Fall of Black Wall Street. He will be collaborating with Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson and the production company Blackfin. The series will be an “urgent, sobering look at the social, economic and political lines that continue to divide the country”.
- Westbrook played 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder before the team traded him to the Houston Rockets in 2019. He tweeted that being in Oklahoma “opened my eyes to the rich and sordid history of the state”.
#terrorintulsa #blackwallstreet pic.twitter.com/BcJCzJHS0N
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) June 10, 2020
- The 1921 massacre is considered to be one of the worst instances of racial violence in American history. A white mob atttacked an area of black-owned businesses and homes in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, also known as “Black Wall Street”. They destroyed over 35 city blocks and 1,200 homes, killing between 100 and 300 people, according to the Tulsa Historical Society.
- In 2019, the fictional HBO series Watchmen brought the Tulsa Massacre to the screen, recreating it for their pilot episode. Series creator Damon Lindelof told NBC News “What is creating the most anxiety in America right now? For me the answer is undeniably race,…Superheroes cannot defeat racism.”
Russell Westbrook has been a prominent voice during the nationwide protests fighting against police brutality and racial injustice. He spoke at the Compton Peace Walk on Monday, telling the crowd “I challenge all you guys to continue to stick together,…Continue to fight for one another, continue to lift one another up. Continue to protect your home, protect your team, protect your family. In times like this we need to stick together.”
