“Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street” aired by CNN Films, on the 100th Anniversary of the riot
Tulsa, Oklahoma
On Memorial Day May 31, 2021, CNN aired its film “Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street”, directed and produce by Salima Koroma, with executive producers LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, and Philip Byron for The SpringHill Company, and Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton for CNN Films. The film documents the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 31, 1921.
The early part of the film covered the gradual migration of descendants of the freed slaves into the Oklahoma territory, with the willingness of Native Americans to assimilate them.
The opportunities from the oil boom gave black entrepreneurs opportunities to build up small businesses in the Greenwood section of north Tulsa, about 35 square blocks.
The riot was sparked by a minor incident Memorial day weekend when a black shoeshiner was accused of sexual impropriety with a white teenage girl, which was denied. The film, in its second half, shows the attack in animation, from the viewpoint of families inside their homes. Eventually even aircraft attacked the area.
Up to 300 people may have been killed, burned to death, more than in the OKC bombing of 1995. The victims were housed in a tent city for a long time and force to work in semi-slave conditions. None of the perpetrators were held accountable.
The last part of the film shows the investigations by ground radar looking for mass graves of those unaccounted for.
Many blocks in the area were never rebuilt.
Over time, zoning and eminent domain for road projects and other public uses have denied the community an attempt to rebuild, for the supposed “greater good” of “urban renewal”.
I visited Tulsa for a weekend with friends while I lived in Dallas in early 1981 and never heard mention of the incident, nor did I when I visited the campus of ORU on a trip in 2006.
For the fun of it, I checked the 1950 World Book Encyclopedia article on Tulsa, and it does not mention the riot!
Picture: Modern Tulsa, Wikipedia embed, click for attribution.
Name: “Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street”
Director, writer: Salima Koroma
Released: 2021/5/31
Format: HD 16.9
When and how viewed: CNN, 2021/5/31, reaired 2023/2/18 for Black History Month
Length: 95 (approx, after commercials)
Rating: NA (TV-MA, maybe PG-13)
Companies: SpringHill, CNN Films
Link: CNN
Stars: *****
(Posted: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 11 AM EDT)