MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee to Host NBC News Digital Documentary & Special Two-Part Episode of ‘Into America’ Podcast
‘Tulsa: The Massacre & The Movement’ will Air Across ‘TODAY,’ ‘NBC Nightly News,’ MSNBC, NBCNews.com, NBC News NOW, CNBC & More
May 20, 2021 — As the country marks 100 years since the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, NBCUniversal News Group will feature extensive coverage of what historians have called the single worst event of racial violence in American history. The cross-platform series Tulsa: The Massacre & the Movement begins on Thursday, May 27 across TODAY, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, NBCNews.com, NBC News NOW, CNBC and Peacock.
MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee hosts a digital documentary Blood on Black Wall Street: The Legacy of the Tulsa Massacre examining how the violence inflicted on a once thriving economic hub has impacted generations of Black Tulsans. Lee will speak with descendants still struggling financially and emotionally, while pushing the city to recognize the role it played. The doc will stream Friday, May 28 on NBCNews.com and NBC News NOW, and will also be available Sunday, May 30 on Peacock on demand.
Additionally, Lee hosts a special two-part episode of MSNBC’s Into America podcast that traces the century-long financial impact of the massacre through the story of two Black families, as well as the efforts of white Tulsa residents as they face their families’ past. The first episode will be available on Thursday, May 27 and the subsequent one on Thursday, June 3.
Lee and NBC News reporter Antonia Hylton will also cover the weekend centennial events, honoring the more than 300 victims and countless survivors of the massacre.
Additional programming highlights include:
- Anchoring MSNBC’s Cross Connection live from Tulsa, Tiffany Cross will speak with those on the frontlines seeking justice for survivors and descendants of the massacre. Cross will also examine the fight for reparations, voting rights and police reform.
- On NBC Nightly News anchor, Lester Holt will report on the ongoing efforts to unearth possible victims of the massacre. On TODAY, NBC News correspondent Harry Smith will also focus on the latest of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Graves Investigation.
- On the 3rd Hour of TODAY, anchor Sheinelle Jones will report on what Oklahoma schools are doing to teach students about the massacre and its impact on gentrification, generational wealth, racial tensions and the rebuilding of Black Wall Street.
- On Weekend Nightly and Sunday TODAY, NBC News NOW anchor Morgan Radford will speak with two of the remaining three survivors, Violet Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis. She will examine the economic ramifications of persistent historical neglect and the generational after-effects Black Tulsans still face today, including the concerns of Black entrepreneurs who say they are being shut out and priced out of prestigious development projects.
- NBC News Digital will feature reporting from Daniella Silva on why the Tulsa Race Massacre is often not taught in schools and the efforts to change education curriculums. Graham Lee Brewer will explore how the Greenwood neighborhood remains a symbol of injustice because of gentrification, and Deon Hampton will cover the reactions of Tulsa survivors, advocates and lawmakers to the current state of reparations. Plus, in partnership with The Atlantic, NBCBLK shares a look at the historical preservation of Greenwood and how it has transformed in the last 100 years.
- CNBC, in collaboration with NBCBLK, will report on how Black Wall Street once stood as an aspirational place and how, a century later, there is an effort underway to create more Black businesses and bring more Black executives into finance and onto Wall Street.
- CNBC Make It will speak with three Tulsa business owners about the anniversary and the community’s ongoing efforts to revive the spirit of Black Wall Street: Bobby Eaton, whose grandfather survived the massacre as a young man and later ran a barber shop in the community where Eaton now runs a radio station; Sherry Gamble Smith, founder and CEO of Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce; and Venita Cooper, owner of Silhouette Sneakers & Art, which opened two years ago in a spot once occupied by a shoe store on original Black Wall Street.
- Lee and NBCU Academy will team up with The Juice Radio, a youth-led radio program out of KBOB, as they tour Greenwood to learn more about the city’s history. The report will be featured on nbcuacademy.com
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