Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, plan on taking part in the remembrance of the Tulsa Race Riot/Massacre on May 28-30 in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood.
Booker, who made an unsuccessful run for the Democrat nomination for president in 2020, will not attend the event but will take part online. Booker is the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 40 and Lee is the sponsor of House Resolution 40, which if passed would create a federal commission to study history in the United States and pave the way for reparations.
Other scheduled guests for The Black Wall Street Legacy Festival:
- Tulsa native Alfre Woodard, actress, producer, political activist
- Ben Crump, national civil rights attorney
- Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Nicole Austin-Hillery, executive director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch
- Daniel Roumain, composer and performer
- Tulsa native Jay Ellis, actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur
- Brandan ‘B-mike’ Odums, visual artist and political activist
Organizers claim more than one thousand black gun owners will take part in the Second Amendment March on May 29 from 6-9 p.m. in the Greenwood District.
The Second Amendment March is the highlight of the National Black Power Convention, scheduled from May 28-30 at the Vernon Chapel AME Church and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Tulsa. (see blackpanthermovement.org). The New Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton Gun Club are bringing members from all 50 states to Tulsa.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will also sponsor a private luncheon honoring the three last known survivors on May 29.
The Festival is headlined by the last known massacre survivors — 106-year-old Lessie Benningfield “Mother” Randle, 107-year-old Viola “Mother” Fletcher, and 100-year-old Hughes Van Ellis — who will lead a procession and participate in an event honoring their legacy.
Local sponsors include Terence Crutcher Foundation; Tulsa Community Remembrance Coalition; The Black Wall Street Times; African Ancestral Society; Justice for Greenwood Foundation; Greenwood Cultural Center; Oklahoma City Thunder; Metcares Foundation; Black Wall Street Chamber; Historic Greenwood Mainstreet; Martin Luther King Society; World Culture Music Fest; Fire In Little Africa; Black Tech Street; 5 Fist; BTW Hornets United; Gathering Place; Edurec Tulsa; Women of Power; Northside United Coalition of Clergy; OSU-Tulsa; All Souls Church; Center for Public Secrets; Tulsa Juneteenth Festival; Survivor Stock; StoryFile and more.