Remembering the history of ‘Black Wall Street’

The story of prosperity of Black communities in Tulsa, Oklahoma is incomplete without discussing their roots.

When HBO’s TV series Watchmen (2019) and Lovecraft Country (2020) splashed across our screens, recreating the historical event now known as the Tulsa Massacre, Americans of all races were flabbergasted that a story so brutal, so significant had been seemingly lost to history. Few had known the details of the mass killing of Black people by white mobs in what at that time was thought to be the wealthiest Black community in the United States. After the collective shock, multiple projects were born from originators such as NBA superstars LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, as well as Dream Hampton (executive producer of the documentary Surviving R Kelly), all aiming to tell this story of Black economic success torn asunder by white racism.