Jun 13 (edited) in Black Wall Street History
Breaking News re Tulsa Massacre
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has dismissed the lawsuit of the last two living survivors of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. 😡
When I reached out to the legal team representing plaintiffs for Justice for Greenwood and the lawsuit for reparations for the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Massacre, I was so grateful to Damario Solomon-Simmons for agreeing to allow my father (grandson of BWS Co-founder A.J. Smitherman) to be added to the case as a plaintiff.
It was a blow when they dropped anyone as a plaintiff who was not a living survivor including my Daddy. This was just one of many injustices our family has faced since the Massacre. As you will hear me describe in the attached video, we have fought for reparations for decades on behalf of our family of survivors WHILE THEY WERE STILL ALIVE...just to be denied any rights or recompense.
Today was a blow yet once again. But still, we rise!! It’s absolutely heartbreaking that even in 2024 the more things change the more they stay the same.
This is the email I received today from the legal team:
Statement from the Legal Team for the Survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921:
OKLAHOMA, TULSA— Our clients, Viola “Mother” Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield “Mother” Randle, will file a petition for rehearing with the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking the Court to reconsider its decision.
The destruction of forty-square blocks of property on the night of May 31, 1921 through murder and arson clearly meets the definition of a public nuisance under Oklahoma law. Faithful application of the law compels the conclusion that Mother Randle and Mother Fletcher have stated a claim for relief. They are entitled to a trial. Yet the Court held that Mother Randle and Mother Fletcher have asked the Court to decide a “political” question that is beyond the purview of the Court.
Incredibly, during the extensive oral argument the Supreme Court held on the appeal, not a single member of the nine-member Court asked a question about this political question theory. It is not a political question simply because the suit seeks to remedy wrongful acts perpetrated by a white mob against Black people – the court system is the very place where such harms are meant to be remedied.
In 103 years since the Massacre, no court has held a trial addressing the Massacre and no individual or entity has been held accountable for it. As justice is delayed once again in the Oklahoma court system, we call upon the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into the Massacre under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.
The Massacre happened 103 years ago, but it remains a vivid memory of Mother Randle and Mother Fletcher who as young girls saw their community destroyed in the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. As Mother Fletcher celebrated her 110th birthday last month and Mother Randle will celebrate the same birthday later this year, time is of the essence for this investigation to begin.
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Breaking News re Tulsa Massacre
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