Tulsa Reparations Coalition came into being as a result of the following proposal from the Center for Racial Justice on April 7^th 2001.

Tulsa Race Riot Reparations Proposal for The Center For Racial Justice

As Author and Activist Dorothy Dewitty said, "Tulsa is the Tale of Two Cities: One Black and one White". The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was arguably the most destructive in property damage and lives of any such upheaval in American History. In February 2001 the Tulsa Race Riot Commission presented its final report to the Oklahoma State Legislature with a detailed overview of the events as well as a recommendation for reparations to be made to the riot survivors and the African American Community in several possible ways. This pivotal time in the history of Tulsa calls for focused organized community action. While reparations is a thorny issue, there must be an organized effort for the City and State to come to grips with it's history and to make the needed efforts to mend the wounds that have been left generally untended for 75 years. The Race Riot Commissions efforts are to be lauded and raised up. This is what the Center for Racial Justice will strive to achieve through various means:

1.   Promote an equitable implementation of reparations to the African American Community of Tulsa and specifically the living Race Riot victims.

2.   To the above ends The Center for Racial Justice shall communicate with members of the Race Riot Commission our desire to implement the recommendations of the Race Riot Commission and our willingness to establish forums for open dialogue around this issue.

3.   Promote and establish grass roots coalitions that express support for the general idea of reparations and strive toward consensus in defining what that concept will entail in concrete measurable items.

4.   Lobby the responsible power structures for implementing the just reparations that the effected community has delineated through the above listed process.

Overview of the initial meeting

The first meeting on April 7^th was lead by Rev. Gerald Davis, pastor of The Church of the Restoration Unitarian Universalist, and Mark Stodghill of the Center for Racial Justice. Those attending took the time to introduce themselves and then began a discussion of the purpose of the meeting. The meeting was informal in nature with participants seating in a circle and sharing comments, questions and experiences related to the issue of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot and life in North Tulsa today. At some point the group broke out into small groups for discussion, to develop a vision of what they would like to see take place as a result of the work done to obtain reparations for those affected by the Race Riot. We were encouraged to be creative, optimistic and specific in our visions of how things might be. The results of those discussions are listed in the April 7^th meeting notes.

This first group of people who met also developed the Goals of this Coalition regarding reparations, in order of importance, as follows:

Recommended List of Reparations

This list of reparations, in this order, has continued to be the focus and purpose of this Coalition.

Tulsa Reparations Coalition Steering Committee:

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