A request for apology, large increase in reparation request preceded cancellation of the Remember &

A request for apology, large increase in reparation request preceded cancellation of the Remember & Rise event in Tulsa


Nine days before the Remember & Rise event at Tulsa’s ONEOK field was set to take place, an attorney who represents a group of Race Massacre survivors dramatically increased a request for money to secure their participation in the event.

The event, which was set to include politician Stacey Abrams and musician John Legend, was abruptly canceled Thursday. Members of the Race Massacre Centennial Commission said on Thursday they hoped to host the event at a later date.

Damario Solomon-Simmons, a Tulsa civil rights attorney, asked the Commission to raise $1 million for each Race Massacre survivor, as well as for a pledge of $50 million to a fund for survivors of the massacre and their descendants according to a May 23 email obtained by The Frontier. Those figures were a substantial increase over the original requests. Sen. Kevin Matthews, a member of the Centennial Commission, said the attorney had initially asked for $100,000 for each survivor and $2 million for the fund.

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch has accused the Centennial Commission of failing to reach out to the descendants of race massacre victims or seek their input.

Read more: https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/a-request-for-apology-large-increase-in-reparation-request-preceded-cancellation-of-the-remember-rise-event-in-tulsa/