Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission official explains sudden cancelation of Remember & Rise event
IT WAS GREED(Anons are NOT SURPRISED! Dems are ALWAYS greedy!)
TULSA, Okla. (KFOR) – The highly-anticipated Remember & Rise event was canceled after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission could not fulfill
increasing financial demands
from the three living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, according to the Centennial Commission’s chairman.
State Sen. Kevin Matthews, chairman of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, spoke Friday about the sudden cancelation of Remember & Rise, a ceremony previously scheduled for Monday to honor the thousands of victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Centennial Commission cancels Tulsa Race Massacre ‘Remember & Rise’ event “due to unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers”
Remember and Rise’s cancelation on Thursday came as a shock to many.
It was to be one of several solemn events in which Oklahomans and out-of-state visitors gathered to remember and honor the hundreds of lives lost and the community destroyed during one of the deadliest racial attacks in United States history.
The event was to be held at ONEOK Field in the Greenwood District on the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, which occurred over an 18-hour period from May 31 to June 1, 1921. Prominent politician Stacey Abrams was to be the event’s keynote speaker and music superstar John Legend was set to perform.
Matthews said the ceremony was canceled because the financial gift requested by three Tulsa Race Massacre survivors could not be met.
The Centennial Commission was initially approached by legal representatives of the three living survivors
who asked that the survivors be included in Remember & Rise events, according to Matthews.
“They asked us to provide a financial gift for them in return,” Matthews said.
Donors to the Commission had previously offered to make financial gifts to survivors of the massacre, so, Commission members did not feel uncomfortable discussing financial gifts for survivors, according to Matthews.
The Rev. Ray Horn, a respected, impartial pastor, held a meeting, bringing the Commission and survivors together on Saturday, May 22. The meeting ended well with anagreement that the Commission would raise $100,000 per survivor
and provide a seed gift of $2 million for a Reparation Coalition Fund
, Matthews said.
“The deadline for that fund and that fundraising was one week, and we did it,” he said.
However, the following day, the survivors asked that that they be given $1 million each
instead of the previously agreed upon $100,000 amount
and that the seed gift to the Reparation Coalition Fund be raised from $2 million to $50 millionaccording to Matthews.
“We could not respond to those demands,”
he said. “So, to be clear, I absolutely want the survivors, the descendants and others that were affected to be financially and emotionally supported. However, this is not the way, no matter how hard we try.”
While the cancelation of Remember & Rise is a blow to both the Commission members who organized it and the community members who anticipated it, several others events will be held during the centennial period to memorialize the many lives lost during the massacre. At the bottom of this story is a full list of events happening this weekend, next week and throughout the rest of June.
Dept. of Homeland Security says Tulsa Race Massacre commemoration could be target for white supremacists; Remember & Rise event canceled
President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the Greenwood District on Tuesday.
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