Russell Westbrook will executive produce a documentary TV series on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The upcoming series will be aired in 2021 to line up with the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.
THR goes on to state that Westbrook has linked with Blackfin Productions, who has previously put together I Am Homicide for ID, Brothers in Arms for the History Channel, and Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandezfor Netflix.
Their newest project's current title is Terror in Tulsa: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street, which is not to be confused with a separate docuseries on the same subject, to be directed by Dream Hampton and put out by Cineflix. In addition to that, it's also not to be confused with a third documentary from the production company of LeBron James (SpringHill Entertainment), as they too are putting together a project on the event, with Salima Koroma set to direct.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Westbrook's project:
"[W]ill chronicle [the] deadly massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, where over 300 African Americans were killed and thousands more were displaced as the once-prosperous Greenwood District, called Black Wall Street by locals, was set ablaze."
Though it's not necessary to have a link to the state in order to executive produce the series, Westbrook has obvious ties to Oklahoma by way of playing for the OKC Thunder for 11 seasons. It was during that time that he is reported to have first learned of the often scrubbed stain on American history.
"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," Westbrook said in a statement. "We must amplify them now more than ever if we want to create change moving forward."
