Russell Westbrook will produce a docuseries on Tulsa Race Massacre

The images of the protests that are invading not only the United States are traveling around the world. Among these there are testimonies of many athletes, especially NBA and NFL, who are participating in marches, often taking the floor because they invest a role in some ways public. Russell Westbrook paraded through the streets of his Compton with Demar DeRozan and Kendrick Lamar, two other influential personalities who have their roots in one of the areas of Los Angeles already known for great protests.

The Houston Rockets star has previously had to deal with racism (far less serious than the assassination of George Floyd). During a game in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz, the former Thunder # 0 received racially motivated insults from a fan - the same one who was identified and banned for life from any Jazz-related activity the next day. But Russell Westbrook wants to go further and will go further. The announcement came from Variety's Will Thorne: RW will executive produce a docuseries titled "Terror In Tulsa: The Rise And Fall of Black Wall Street". The direction will be entrusted to the documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, one of the greatest experts of black culture and already behind the productions that narrate the problem of racism.

The theme chosen is very delicate and Westbrook, as an adopted son of Oklahoma, had no doubts. The documentary will deal with the 1921 Tulsa massacre, considered by many to be one of the most serious racist attacks in the entire history of the USA. Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, the Oklahoma town in which the nation's largest African American community lived was the scene of an out of control conflict that led a mass of whites to attack the Greenwood neighborhood ("Black Wall Street") by land and air, destroying 35 blocks. In the clashes many people lost their lives and even today the number of victims seems to be shrouded in mystery: the latest estimate is from the American Red Cross in a 2001 report of 300 deaths. Some African American survivors said that the same policemen joined the killers.

"Spending 11 years in Oklahoma opened my eyes to the rich and sordid history of the state" Westbrook said. "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. 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".