”Surviving R.Kelly” Producer Dream Hampton Set To Direct Black Wall Street Series

Amid the countrywide protests seeking justice against the police officers involved in George Floyd’s death, executive producer Dream Hampton has announced a new Black Wall Street series in the works. Hampton is known for her work as the executive producer of ’Surviving R.Kelly,’ now she is set to direct the period piece. Black Wall Street will be a mini-documentary series about the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. During that time, the Greenwood District was known as the Black Wall Street due to the success of the 300- African American-owned businesses.

“Black people from Tulsa have refused to let the Greenwood District Massacre be erased from history,” Hampton said.’ I’m so inspired by their persistence to lift up the stories of what North Tulsa was before the massacre.”

Labeled one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in America, the Tulsa Massacre left more than 300 African Americans dead and thousands homeless, while the Greenwood District went up in flames.

Because of the success that the black community had in that area, white people in Tulsa became mad and filled with jealousy, CNN states. Mechelle Brown, the director of programs at the Greenwood Cultural Center, said the whites commented: “‘How dare these negroes have a grand piano in their house, and I don’t have a piano in my house.'” But tensions between whites and blacks reached a boiling point during an incident on an elevator.

According to Brown, the incident that took place was between a 19-year-old black man named Dick Rowland and a 17-year-old white girl named Sarah Page. At the time, Page worked as an elevator operator, while Rowland would use the elevator nearly every day.

“This particular day after the elevator doors closed and Sarah Page and Dick Rowland were alone in the elevator a few moments, there was a scream,” Brown said.

When the elevator door opened, the 19-year-old male ran but was later arrested. Brown states that Page told the police that she was assaulted by Rowland. Other reports say that Rowland had tripped while leaving the elevator and had grabbed Page’s arm. That led to the 17-year-old girl screaming and nearby witnesses searching for authorities.

The young girl did not press charges, but the police did. By the end of the day, a rumor that Page had been raped had circulated around Tulsa.

On May 31, 1921, blacks and whites met at a courthouse, where the 19-year-old male was being held. Shots were fired, and chaos had later erupted. In just a matter of 24 hours, more than 1,200 homes were destroyed, 35 square blocks burned, and hundreds had died.

Now, 99 years later, Hampton will be sharing Tulsa’s story.

“As the centennial approaches, they are still searching for a mass grave they believe contains the bodies of the victims of the Black Wall Street Massacre, and they are still demanding reparations,” she said. “I’m inspired to learn this history from them, and to tell their ongoing story.”

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, president of Cineflix Productions, J.C. Mills, spoke on why he chose Hampton to direct the limited series. He said:

“After 99 years of silence, Black Wall Street needs to be told, and there’s no one better than Dream Hampton to bring it to life,” he said. ”If the recent tragic stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have shown us anything, it’s that there’s still much work to be done.”