Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook is producing a documentary series about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, according to Variety.
Westbrook will be the executive producer for the series, which is titled “Terror In Tulsa: The Rise And Fall of Black Wall Street,” Variety reported Tuesday. Westbrook will be collaborating with documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson and the production company Blackfin.
Westbrook, who played 11 years with the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Rockets in July 2019, said in a tweet that living “in Oklahoma opened my eyes to the rich and sordid history of the state.”
“When I learned about the heartbreaking events that happened in Tulsa nearly 100 years ago, I knew this was a story I wanted to tell,” Westbrook said. “It’s upsetting that the atrocities that transpired then, are still so relevant today. It’s important we uncover the buried stories of African Americans in this country. We must amplify them now more than ever if we want to create change moving forward.”
#terrorintulsa #blackwallstreet pic.twitter.com/BcJCzJHS0N
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) June 10, 2020
In 1921, in what was considered one of the nation’s worst cases of racial violence, a white mob attacked the predominantly black Greenwood district of Tulsa, looting and burning homes and businesses. The reported deaths were 36, though a 2001 Oklahoma commission said it’s likely that 100-300 people were killed.
On Sunday, Westbrook, 31, participated in a Black Lives Matter protest in Compton, California. In a tweet, he implored people to “continue to fight.”
