Never Forget: Courtney B. Vance & Angela Bassett Are Producing Tulsa Massacre Series With MTV!

YourBlackWorld.net, By Victor Omondi, Posted June 11th 2021

Back in 2019, the series premiere of HBO’s Watchmen introduced many viewers to the Tulsa Race Massacre.

This bloody series of attacks is considered the single worst incident of racist violence in American history. The 1921 massacre saw white mobs of angry whites in Tulsa, Oklahoma rampage through the city’s Greenwood District. The thriving black district was known as “Black Wall Street” and was the wealthiest Black community in the United States. The history of the gruesome massacre is rarely taught in American schools.

It took a comic book show for many to learn about it for the first time; there’s definitely more to teach about this incorrigible series of incidents involving race-based hatred. To mark the massacre’s centenary this year, MTV announced early last week that it is collaborating with Bassett Vance Productions — the company run by husband-and-wife duo Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett — on a limited-series drama based on the Tulsa Massacre

The as-yet-untitled series will be written by playwright Nathan Alan Davis. Previously, Davis tackled the Tulsa massacre in his play The High Ground. Other Davis plays include Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea, and The Wind and the Breeze (Holub, 2021).

Vance and Bassett’s series will depict the violence that killed hundreds of Black people in Tulsa and destroyed their businesses. It will also explore the entrepreneurial spirit that created the prosperous black community of Greenwood. The power couple released the following statement in reference to the upcoming series:

“Angela and I have always had a deep appreciation for history, especially when it comes to stories that are rooted in the Black community. We look forward to working on this series with MTV Entertainment Studios that will explore an important slice of American history as we look to reflect on events that changed the lives of countless Black families in Tulsa, Oklahoma one hundred years ago,” Vance said in a statement. “We are excited to work with Nathan because his vision directly aligns with the story that Angela and I want to tell. Although the series will revisit the Black pain and tragedy that took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, it will also importantly introduce to many the stories of the extraordinary, entrepreneurial people who built Black Wall Street and all that this community accomplished.”