TULSA, Okla.–Justice for Greenwood unveiled a wide-ranging reparations package Tuesday, dubbed “Project Greenwood,” that it wants the City of Tulsa to enact while the two last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre remain alive.
In an emailed statement, newly elected Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols signaled support for the initiative.
The proposal is based on descendant lineage, not race. It includes a victims compensation fund, direct payments to survivors, scholarships, tax abatement, and more. Nearly 104 years after Dr. A.C. Jackson was shot to death with his hands in the air while surrendering to the city-sanctioned white mob, the proposal also includes building a hospital in North Tulsa.
Flanked by descendants and community leaders, Justice for Greenwood founder and civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said the proposal was the culmination of 25 years of fighting for reparations.
“Greenwood was created by five basic principles: community love, ownership, freedom mind state, wealth concentration and resiliency. And that’s what this Project Greenwood is about,” attorney Solomon-Simmons said. “The resiliency, particularly of our two last living survivors, Viola Ford Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randall, who are 110 years old and have been a part of this process every step of the way.”
Greenwood picks up where DOJ left off
Tuesday’s press conference comes weeks after Biden’s outgoing Department of Justice released a report on the 1921 massacre.
The report corrected a 100-year old report that falsely blamed the massacre on the Black World War II veterans defending their community from a state-sanctioned white mob.
It also acknowledged that the attack was a military-style assault on the community, something many in Greenwood already knew.
Notably, the report claimed there was no way to achieve accountability for the 104-year-old racial domestic terror attack. Attorney Solomon-Simmons, who spent years fighting for reparations in the courts, said he was prepared for that outcome.
“While we appreciated the DOJ reaffirming that information, we were very disappointed that they decided that they were not going to do anything about it, but we have been planning for that contingency with our Project Greenwood,” he said.
Project Greenwood
The courts failed to provide justice to survivors immediately after the massacre, which is widely considered the worst instance of racial terror in U.S. history. Upwards of 300 Black men, women and children were bombed, burned and bullet-ridden between May 31 and June 1, 1921.
Over 1,200 homes were destroyed, and thousands of Black Tulsans were forced into concentration camps, according to records from the Tulsa Historical Society.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear survivors’ claims in the early 2000’s, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately rejected attorney Solomon-Simmons’ lawsuit on behalf of the two last known living survivors last year.
Along with efforts for restorative policies from Tulsa’s newly formed reparations commission, Justice for Greenwood’s newly unveiled Project Greenwood seeks to enact the most comprehensive reparations package in the nation’s history.
“Project Greenwood” proposal includes:
Over 100 years ago, President Woodrow Wilson released a 14-point plan for ending World War 1 through “national self-determination.” Decades later, the Black Panthers released a 10-point plan for freedom and self-determination. On Tuesday, members of Justice for Greenwood took matters into their own hands by unveiling their own 14-point plan.
It includes:
- Immediate compensation to survivors.
- Victims compensation fund.
- Business support program for descendants based in Tulsa.
- Scholarship program for descendants who are residents in Oklahoma or Tulsa who attend university, college or other post-high school instruction.
- Grant program for entities (churches, schools) that survived the 1921 massacre.
- Employment preference program for descendants.
- City contracting program for descendants.
- Immunity from all city of Tulsa taxes, fees and utilities for survivors and descendants.
- A land record audit.
- Returning land to descendants or paying fair market rate.
- Level 1 trauma hospital in North Tulsa.
- Designating June 1 an official city holiday.
- Release of all Tulsa Race Massacre records in the city’s possession.
- Open criminal investigation into known murder victims.
Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, a descendant of massacre survivors and founder of the Terence Crutcher Foundation, said the community never gave up hope.
“This community could have fallen into hopelessness after the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed our case but we didn’t give up. We could have fallen into hopelessness when the Department of Justice recently stated that the statute of limitations had run out, but yet again, we didn’t give up. We refused to give up,” Dr. Crutcher said Tuesday.
Granddaughter of survivor speaks out
During Tuesday’s press conference, pastors and ministers urged residents of Tulsa to support and pray on the proposal. Descendants Tyrance Billingsley II and Jackie Weary, whose ancestors owned businesses in Greenwood, cast the proposal as a way to bring the city together and move forward the right way.
Fighting through tears, Ladonna Penny urged the community to support “Project Greenwood.” As the granddaughter of 110-year-old “mother” Lessie Benningfield Randle, she begged the city to act before her grandmother passes away.
“It can help them. They both wanna see justice before they die. I’m praying that God gives them more years, but we don’t know. But if this is the opportunity to give them their flowers while they’re still here, then the city needs to do it,” Penny said.
Mayor supports “significant elements” of Project Greenwood
The Black Wall Street Times reached out to Mayor Nichols’ office for his reaction to the reparations package. He responded with the following statement:
“Project Greenwood reflects the unshakable resolve of the last living massacre survivors and descendants to address the generational impact of Greenwood’s destruction and move Tulsa forward. I look forward to implementing significant elements of the plan in partnership with Justice for Greenwood and other stakeholders. In the coming weeks, I will share the framework my Administration will use to heal the open wounds left by the Massacre and create a stronger, more unified Tulsa for all.”
As far-right politicians on the state and national level continue attacks against any efforts to achieve equity for societal harms, attorney Solomon-Simmons said he and his team are ready to defend their proposal from any attacks.
“Obviously, we cannot control those people of bad faith that want to be in opposition. That’s been happening for 104 years,” attorney Solomon-Simmons said. “So yes, that’s probably going to come, but we feel very confident, based upon my legal team, that this will withstand any legal scrutiny. And quite frankly, this is just a moment of courage. It’s a moment of courage to do the right thing.”
Related Stories:
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- Justice for Greenwood gives $21,000 to 13 churches and Booker T. Washington HS
- Grandson of Tulsa massacre survivor who fought back shares story as DOJ reviews
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