>>> NOW TO THE CRACKDOWN ON HISTORY ITSELF, FROM REMOVING MUSEUM EXHIBITS ON AMERICAN SLAVERY TO PAINTING OVER WASHINGTON, D.C.,'S BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL.

SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS SAY TRUMP'S DEI PURGE IS MINIMIZING AND EVEN ERASING BLACK HISTORY.

AND OUR NEXT GUEST IS ACUTELY AWARE OF THE IMPACT.

MONROE NICHOLS IS MAYOR OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

HIS NEW INITIATIVE, ROAD TO REPAIR, WOULD GRANT THE CITY'S BLACK COMMUNITY OVER $100 MILLION TO ADDRESS HARMS CAUSED BY THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE OF 1921.

AND MAYOR NICHOLS JOINS MICHELLE MARTIN.

>> THANKS.

MAYOR, NICHOLS, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

>> BEFORE WE GET INTO THE DETAILS OF THE PROJECT IN TULSA, I WANT TO TAKE YOU BACK A LITTLE BIT.

YOU WERE ACTUALLY BORN IN WACO, TEXAS.

YOU MOVED TO OKLAHOMA TO GO TO COLLEGE AND ALSO TO PLAY FOOTBALL.

BUT MAINLY TO GO TO COLLEGE.

>> RIGHT.

>> I JUST WANTED TO ASK YOU IF YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU HEARD ABOUT THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE.

BECAUSE THIS WAS AN HISTORICAL EVENT THAT FOR SOME PEOPLE, CLEARLY NOT FOR SURVIVORS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THROUGH IT, BUT FOR MANY PEOPLE HAD BEEN KIND OF LOST TO HISTORY.

HAVE HEARD OF THIS WHAT HAPPENED.

>> YEAH.

>> AND PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU FIRST HEARD HAD HAPPENED VERSUS WHAT YOU LEARNED LATER.

>> YEAH, I MEAN, WHAT I FIRST HEARD HAPPENED IS JUST THAT THERE WAS THIS RIOT IN TULSA WHERE BLACK WALL STREET WAS DESTROYED.

THAT WAS LIKE THE BASIS OF THE KNOWLEDGE, RIGHT?

AND SO I DIDN'T HAVE MUCH BEYOND THAT.

BUT FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WERE WATCHING, WHAT EXISTED IN TULSA AT ONE TIME WAS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL CENTER.

IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A CITY WITHIN A CITY WHERE YOU HAD MOVIE THEATERS AND GROCERY STORES AND DOCTOR'S OFFICES AND ATTORNEY'S OFFICES AND SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES THAT ALL THRIVED IN WHAT WAS A VERY SEGREGATED SOCIETY HERE IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

THE GREENWOOD DISTRICT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS BLACK WALL STREET BECAUSE OF ALL THE COMMERCE IN AND OUT OF THIS PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.

24-HOUR PERIOD, A MASSACRE THAT SAW A WHITE MOB COME TO GREENWOOD AND BURN DOWN, BURN TO THE GROUND AROUND 37 BLOCKS, ABOUT 1,200 BLACK BUSINESSES AND HOMES, AND LEFT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HOMELESS AND SOME EVEN PUT INTO CAMPS.

THE DEATH TOLL WAS BELIEVED TO BE OVER 300, ALTHOUGH ONLY REPORTED AS 36 AT THE TIME BY LOCAL OFFICIALS.

AND IT IS THE ONLY DOCUMENTED AERIAL ASSAULT ON AN AMERICAN CITY IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY.

SO IT WAS A MASSACRE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS, AND IT DESTROYED WHAT WAS PERHAPS THE GREATEST EXAMPLE OF BLACK EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP THAT THE COUNTRY HAD SEEN AT THE TIME.

AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT 24-HOUR PERIOD FROM MAY 31st TO JUNE 1st.

>> THE ONLY SORT OF MINOR EDIT I WOULD MAKE TO THAT IS PEOPLE MAY REMEMBER THAT THERE'S THIS -- THERE WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD IN PHILADELPHIA THAT WAS ALSO BOMBED BY -- >> SURE.

THERE WAS SORT OF A BLACK RADICAL GROUP THAT HAD TAKEN UP RESIDENCE THERE.

BUT THAT IS ALSO SEEN AS A MODERN ATROCITY.

BUT HERE'S THE OTHER THING.

YOU SAID IT, YOU HAD INITIALLY HEARD OF THIS AS A RIOT.

AND IT HAS NOW BEEN KNOWN AS A MASSACRE.

AND THERE'S A REAL REASON THAT THAT MATTERS.

COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN WHY THAT MATTERS SO MUCH.

IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF WORDS.

THE NOMENCLATURE.

IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF WHICH WORD.

IT HAS REAL FORCE.

>> ABSOLUTELY IT HAS REAL FORCE.

IT WAS IN SOME WAYS A MATTER OF LEGALITY.

A RIOT MEANT THAT IT WAS EASIER TO DENY INSURANCE CLAIMS FOR FOLKS WHO HAD LOST HOMES AND BUSINESSES.

YOU KNOW, AND HONESTLY, HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE ESCAPE CULPABILITY.

NOT ONE PERSON WENT TO JAIL BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, THEIR INVOLVEMENT.

UNTIL THIS DAY, NOT ONE GOVERNMENT HAS REPAID BACK TO HELP REBUILD IN WAYS THAT WERE DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRINGING BACK WHAT WAS LOST.

THERE WERE PROMISES MADE TO DO THAT, EVEN DIRECTLY AFTER THE MASSACRE.

DID NOT HAPPEN.

SO NAMING IT A RIOT ALL THESE YEARS MEANT THAT THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT GOT TO ESCAPE CULPABILITY, BOTH ON THE INDIVIDUAL SIDE AND THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONAL SIDE.

AND IT WASN'T UNTIL, YOU KNOW, MORE ABOUT THIS CAME OUT THAT IT WAS CLEAR THIS WAS NOT A RIOT.

THIS WAS A SLAUGHTERING OF A PEOPLE BECAUSE WE NOW KNOW THE NUMBERS.

WE NOW KNOW WHAT WAS LOST.

WE KNOW NOW WHAT WAS REFUSED TO BE RESTORED, FOR EXAMPLE.

IT WAS CERTAINLY A MASSACRE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.

AND TO YOUR POINT ABOUT PHILADELPHIA AND OTHER PLACES, I THINK THE OTHER GREAT THING ABOUT UNCOVERING OUR HISTORY IS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT OTHER PLACES WHERE THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPENED.

MAYBE NOT AT THE SAME SCALE WHERE YOU HAVE 300 DEAD, BUT WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PLACE WHERE THIS STUFF HAPPENED.

AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT AS WE CONSIDER WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE GREENWOOD TRUST THAT WE FIND GOOD MODELS FOR HOW YOU BEGIN TO MITIGATE THE HARM.

BECAUSE IT EXISTS.

THE LEGACY OF THE MASSACRE IS VERY PALPABLE IN TULSA.

IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT PEOPLE DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THAT, BUT THERE'S A SUBTLENESS ABOUT IT THAT STILL HAS THIS COMMUNITY KIND OF HELD BY THE CHANGE OF DIVISION IN WAYS THAT JUST PREVENT YOU FROM UNITING IN THE WAY THAT YOU NEED TO UNITE TO MEET THE OTHER BIG CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE, THAT EVERYBODY FACES TOGETHER.

AND SO I DO THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, EVEN IN THIS MOMENT IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY, THAT WE'RE VERY HONEST ABOUT THE ROAD THAT IT'S TAKEN TO GET HERE AND THAT WE FIND WAYS TO MITIGATE HARM, BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY I THINK WE CAN APPROPRIATELY MOVE FORWARD.

>> SO LET'S BRING IT TO THE PRESENT MOMENT.

THERE WAS A LOT OF ATTENTION PAID TO THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE ON THE CENTENNIAL OF IT BACK IN 2021, WHICH ACKNOWLEDGED THE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER.

THERE'S STILL SOME PEOPLE WHO'D SURVIVED WHO WERE OBVIOUSLY VERY SMALL CHILDREN, YOU KNOW, AT THE THERE WAS A LOT OF ENERGY AROUND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT TO DO.

BUT NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED.

THERE WERE NEGOTIATIONS AROUND SOME KIND OF RECOMPENSE, DIDN'T HAPPEN.

NOW WE'RE THREE YEARS LATER AND YOU ANNOUNCED A MAJOR INITIATIVE TO KIND OF, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE I'LL LET YOU DESCRIBE IT.

BECAUSE IT'S A VERY COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT.

>> YEAH.

>> WHAT IS IT THAT YOU HAVE IN MIND?

>> YEAH.

SO JUST FOR A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT, YOU MENTIONED THE CENTENNIAL BACK IN 2021, AND GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2001 THERE WAS A STATE COMMISSION THAT RECOMMENDED CERTAIN THINGS THE STATE SHOULD DO TO ADDRESS THE HARM CAUSED BY THE 1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE.

SINCE THEN WE'VE HAD A COMMISSION OF BEYOND THE APOLOGY COMMISSION THAT WAS CREATED BY MY PREDECESSOR TO COME UP WITH RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE HAVE ADVOCACY GROUPS LIKE JUSTICE FOR GREENWOOD AND THE DIG GREENWOOD FOUNDATION WHERE I ARRIVED AT WAS THE GREENWOOD TRUST A PRIVATE CHARITABLE TRUST I'M GOING OUT AND RAISING CAPITAL FOR.

$105 MILLION REFLECTIVE OF THE $24 MILLION RECOMMENDATION FROM BEYOND THE APOLOGY COMMISSION, MADE UP OF DESCENDANTS AROUND HOUSING AND HOMEOWNERSHIP.

A $60 MILLION FUND INVESTED DIRECTLY INTO CULTURAL LANDMARKS AND THEIR SURVIVING ENTITIES FROM THE MASSACRE.

THERE ARE SOME BUILDINGS THAT STILL STAND.

SO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE INVESTIGATING THOSE, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS IN THE BEST CONDITION FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT WE KNOW HAPPENS OVER TIME.

AND THEN ALSO INVEST IN THE FUTURE BY INVESTING IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AND BUSINESS GRANTS AND NO-INTEREST LOANS TO BUSINESSES THAT ARE OWNED BY DESCENDANTS SO THAT IN THE END NOT ONLY ARE WE MITIGATING HARM BUT WE'RE ENSURING THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO HAVE THOSE SAME FAMILIES, THOSE DESCENDANTS REBUILD THE DISTRICT BACK TO WHERE IT WAS.

>> SO A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE.

LOT OF PRIVATE MONEY.

YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN DO IT?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

I THINK WE CAN DO IT.

YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS UP HERE.

WE'RE SPENDING A YEAR REALLY PLANNING TO SET THE PROGRAMS, APPOINT TRUSTEES, A BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

THAT'LL BE NATIONAL AND LOCAL.

AND THEN WE'RE ALSO EVALUATING WHAT PUBLIC ASSETS WE HAVE THAT THE TRUST CAN BE A BENEFICIARY OF.

SO THERE'S PARTS OF THE GREENWOOD DISTRICT THAT THE CITY OWNS LAND IN, AND AS WE DEVELOP, THE PROCEEDS FROM THOSE DEVELOPMENTS CAN GO BACK INTO THE TRUST.

YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S TWO THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO BALANCE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE POLITICAL REALITIES OF WHERE YOU'RE AT.

YOU'VE GOT ONE SCHOOL OF FOLKS WHO SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, THE MASSACRE WAS A LONG TIME AGO.

I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT, RIGHT?

YOU'VE GOT THAT GOING.

YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE WHO SAY, WELL, 104 YEARS LATER, WE REALLY NEED DIRECT CASH PAYMENT SO.

YOU'RE BALANCING THESE TWO THINGS.

AND SO THE THOUGHT IS, WHAT DO WE HAVE IN THE WAY OF ASSETS THAT WHEN DEVELOPED CAN PRODUCE TO FEED INTO THE TRUST.

SO THERE'S OBVIOUSLY SKIN IN THE GAME FROM THE PUBLIC SIDE.

BUT THE IDEA IS IF WE CAN CREATE THE KIND OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WITH THOSE ASSETS, WITH PRIVATE CAPITAL, WE CAN GET TO A SPACE WHERE THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE OF THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY SHOULDN'T PAY, UNDERSTOOD.

THAT'S FINE.

WE DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT ABOUT THAT.

WE'RE GOING TO MAKE INVESTMENTS.

WE'RE GOING TO DO IT BOTH PRIVATELY, AND WE'RE GOING TO DO IT THROUGH THE WAY OF USING PUBLIC ASSETS.

>> SO YOU WERE FIRST ELECTED IN 2024, AS I UNDERSTAND, YOU JUST TOOK OFFICE IN 2024.

>> JUST TOOK OFFICE IN DECEMBER.

>> AND I WANT TO SAY YOU'RE ALSO THE FIRST BLACK MAYOR OF TULSA.

>> CORRECT.

>> AND IS THAT WHY YOU RAN, IN PART, TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

TO CREATE THIS KIND OF ENERGY AROUND IT?

>> NO.

IT ACTUALLY WASN'T.

I MEAN, I RAN --SO OUR CITY IS DEALING WITH A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES.

I RAN ON ENDING HOMELESSNESS IN SIX YEARS, IMPROVING STUDENT OUTCOMES, EXPANDING OUR ECONOMY, MAKING TULSA SAFEST BIG CITY IN WITH TRIBAL NATIONS.

TULSA IS THE LARGEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY THAT'S ALL RESERVATIONS.

ABOUT TEN DAYS AFTER I GOT ELECTED ALL THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO MITIGATE HARM HIT YOUR DESK.

YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE, ARE YOU GOING TO IGNORE THEM?

ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THEM ASIDE AND SAY THESE THINGS ARE IMPOSSIBLE?

OR ARE YOU GOING TO LEAN INTO IT?

MY SENSE IS THAT THE FOUR THINGS I MENTIONED FOR THE REASONS THAT I RAN FOR MAYOR, I DON'T THINK THEY'RE POSSIBLE UNLESS YOU DO THIS.

COMMUNITIES WHO ARE DIVIDED OR WHO HAVE THIS UNRESOLVED TRAUMA HAVE A HARD TIME MEETING THE NEED ON ALL THESE OTHER BIG CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE.

I THINK WE SEE THIS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

SO THE GREENWOOD TRUST, ALTHOUGH VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON THE DESCENDANT COMMUNITY AND MITIGATING HARM, I THINK IT'S CRITICAL TO MEET THOSE OTHER GOALS, WHICH IS WHY I RAN FOR OFFICE.

>> YOU SAID IN A SPEECH YOU GAVE ANNOUNCING THE TRUST OR THE -- YOUR SORT OF PLANS FOR THE TRUST, YOU SAID, THERE IS NOT ONE TULSAN REGARDLESS OF THEIR SKIN COLOR WHO WOULDN'T BE BETTER OFF TODAY HAD THE MASSACRE NOT HAPPENED OR IF GENERATIONS BEFORE HAD DONE THE WORK TO RESTORE WHAT WAS LOST.

WILL YOU SAY MORE ABOUT THAT?

>> I THINK WE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE EXCEPTION TO SOME OF THOSE THINGS YOU SEE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

NOT EVERY PLACE HAD A GREENWOOD DISTRICT, RIGHT?

NOT EVERY PLACE HAD THAT KIND OF EXAMPLE AT THAT KIND OF SCALE OF FOLKS BEATING THE ODDS EVEN IN A SEGREGATED SOCIETY.

SO IMAGINE IF THAT HAD GONE UNINTERRUPTED WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE TODAY.

IMAGINE THE NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICANS ALL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY NOW WHO HAVE SOME ORIGINS TO TULSA WHO WOULD HAVE STAYED HERE BUT WHO LEFT AFTER THE MASSACRE.

IMAGINE ALL THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN DRAWN HERE BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC VITALITY OF THIS COMMUNITY.

AND IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD HAVE MEANT FOR OUR CITY'S ECONOMY OVERALL.

WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN SOME WAYS THE EXCEPTION OF A LOT OF PLACES ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

AND SO I SAY BECAUSE OF THE MASSACRE, BECAUSE WE HAD THE GREENWOOD DISTRICT, IT CERTAINLY PROBLEMS FROM AN ECONOMIC STANDPOINT WERE MANMADE, BROUGHT ON BY THE MASSACRE IN A LOT OF WAYS, RIGHT?

WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLOSE THE WEALTH GAP HAD THE MASSACRE NEVER HAPPEN.

WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLOSE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP HAD THE MASSACRE NEVER HAPPENED.

AND WE TRADED THAT.

WE TRADED THAT OPPORTUNITY TO BE THAT SHINING EXAMPLE OF HOW A CITY CAN THRIVE FOR EVERYBODY ON MAY 31st AND JUNE 1st OF 1921.

I STILL DO BELIEVE THAT THERE'S NOT ONE PERSON IN THE CITY WHO WOULDN'T BE BETTER OFF HAD THAT NOT HAPPENED.

>> YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING, BECAUSE THE PRETEXT FOR THE MASSACRE WAS, LIKE SO MANY OTHER INSTANCES OF VIOLENCE DIRECTED AT BLACK PEOPLE, WAS AN INCIDENT WHERE IT WAS ALLEGED A WHITE WOMAN WAS MISTREATED, OKAY?

BUT IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORY, THE ARGUMENT HAS SUBSEQUENTLY, SOME PEOPLE WOULD ARGUE, THAT THE REASON WHY THIS VIOLENCE TOOK ON THIS KIND OF VICIOUS MASS QUALITY WAS JEALOUSY.

IT WAS ECONOMIC JEALOUSY.

>> YEAH.

>> THERE WAS A CERTAIN COHORT OF PEOPLE WHO COULDN'T TOLERATE THE FACT THAT BLACK PEOPLE IN GREENWOOD WERE AS SUCCESSFUL AS THEY WERE.

THOSE FOLKS HAVE DESCENDANTS TOO.

AND SO THE QUESTION BECOMES DO YOU THINK YOU CAN PERSUADE THOSE DESCENDANTS THAT ALL THESE YEARS LATER EVEN THEY WILL BE BETTER OFF IF THESE INITIATIVES TAKE PLACE?

>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.

I THINK I WOULD TELL THE FOLKS WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, WHO DESCEND FROM THOSE FAMILIES WHO WERE MORE OF THE PERPETRATOR SIDE OF THE MASSACRE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE BENEFITTED A GREAT DEAL.

THEY WOULDN'T HAVE THE LEGACY OF SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE AS A STAIN ON THEIR FAMILY'S HISTORY.

THEY COULD TALK ABOUT OPENLY THEIR FAMILY'S HISTORY WITH PRIDE.

AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WAS ALSO TAKEN FROM THOSE FAMILIES.

I BELIEVE THAT TULSA'S A MUCH DIFFERENT PLACE.

I KNOW TULSA'S A MUCH DIFFERENT PLACE IN 2025 THAN IT WAS IN 1921.

AND I THINK THAT'S THE MESSAGE RIGHT NOW, RIGHT?

WE ARE NOT THAT FAR REMOVED FROM THE MASSACRE IN A LOT OF WAYS.

THERE'S STILL TWO SURVIVORS THAT LIVE TODAY.

I JUST VISITED MOTHER FLETCHER AND MOTHER RANDALL LAST WEDNESDAY.

MOTHER FLETCHER IS VERY SHARP.

SHE'S 111, BUT SHE IS HERE.

YOU KNOW, THESE --SOMETIMES I THINK WE THINK ABOUT HISTORY AND WE SEE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURES AND THINK, OH MY GOODNESS, THAT WAS SUCH A LONG TIME AGO.

IT WASN'T THAT LONG AGO, RIGHT?

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE OVERARCHING KIND OF CONTEXT OF HISTORY.

SO YEAH, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY TELL THOSE FOLKS THEY MORE SO THAN ALMOST ANYBODY WOULD BE BETTER OFF HAD THE MASSACRE NOT HAPPENED.

BUT I THINK IT SHOULD ALSO REINFORCE IN THEM THIS NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, RIGHT?

I THINK WHEN I THINK ABOUT RESTORATION AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, IT'S ALSO ABOUT GETTING RIGHT WITH THAT FAMILY HISTORY THAT THOSE FOLKS MIGHT HAVE.

I DON'T BLAME THEM NO MORE THAN NOT A QUESTION OF BLAME.

BUT IT IS A QUESTION OF COURAGE.

DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S DIFFICULT TO DO AT A TIME WHERE IT'S DIFFICULT TO DO IT?

DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE ACROSS THE TRAINING TRACKS TO TALK ABOUT THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF OUR NEIGHBORS IN A WAY IS THAT WE HAVEN'T DONE BEFORE.

I THINK WHEN YOU DO THAT, IT MAKES THE GREENWOOD TRUST A VERY EASY SALE, RIGHT?

WHEN YOU JUST BEGIN TO BIND THOSE OLD WOUNDS, IT MAKES STUFF INCREDIBLY EASY.

>> MAYOR, BEFORE WE LET YOU GO, THIS INITIATIVE ARRIVES AT A REALLY INTERESTING TIME WHEN SOME PEOPLE WOULD CALL THIS A BACKLASH MOMENT TO THESE KINDS OF INITIATIVES.

DO YOU SEE HEAD WINDS AT THIS POINT?

>> SIGNIFICANT HEAD WINDS, BUT SO MUCH OF THAT IS LESS ABOUT THE NATIONAL CONTEXT.

BECAUSE WE'VE HAD TIMES WHERE ONE COULD ARGUE IT HAD BEEN A BETTER TIME TO HAVE A CONVERSATION LIKE THIS, BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN THEN EITHER.

THERE'S NEVER BEEN A RIGHT TIME CONVERSATION, SO I THINK YOU JUST GOT TO MEET WIT A WHOLE LOT OF HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY AND NOT BE AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT IT IN CERTAIN SPACES.

AGAIN, AND I SAID THIS IN A SPEECH LAST SUNDAY, THIS IS NOT AN EFFORT TO ASSIGN BLAME.

THIS IS AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS THE HARM CAUSED BY AN EVENT THAT IS A HISTORICAL FACT.

AND THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE RELEASED THE 45,000 PAGES OF UNRELEASED DOCUMENTS THAT WE'RE SITTING ON.

THAT'S WHY WE CONTINUE THE GRAYS INVESTIGATION, BECAUSE FAMILIES DESERVE CLOSURE.

PEOPLE JUST NEED CLOSURE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR LOVED ONE.

EVEN IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS, THINK ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR US.

WHILE EVERYBODY'S HAVING A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT CONVERSATION ABOUT RACE, IMAGINE IF TULSA, ALL OF US, CAME TOGETHER AND WE MADE THIS HAPPEN.

JUST LIKE I SAY WE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN OUTLIER HAD THE GREENWOOD DISTRICT REMAINED UNINTERRUPTED, WE WOULD ALSO BE AN OUTLIER NATIONALLY HOW PEOPLE OF ALL DIFFERENT STRIDES, POLITICAL, RACES, WE'RE GOING TO DO WHAT WE CAN WITH THE CONSTRAINTS WE HAVE TO MAKE THESE INVESTMENTS.

IT HELPS US STAND OUT THE WAYS I WANT TULSA TO STAND OUT.

THIS GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT JUNE 1st WASN'T THE END OF THE STORY.

WE GET TO RIGHT NEW CHAPTERS ON IT IN A WAY THAT I THINK WE PROVIDE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WITH A PATHWAY, HOW YOU CAN ENGAGE THESE KIND OF CONVERSATIONS.

I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO MAKE.

BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT US GETTING RIGHT WITH OURSELVES AND MAKING SURE WE CAN MOVE THIS COMMUNITY FORWARD AS ONE BIG UNITED CITY.

AND SO IF WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK BACK 104 YEARS TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE GO FORWARD TOMORROW, THAT'S AN INVESTMENT OF TIME AND EFFORT THAT'S WELL WORTH IT.

>> MR. MAYOR MONROE NICHOLS IV OF TULSA THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING WITH US.

I'D LOVE TO SPEAK AGAIN AND HEAR HOW IT'S GOING.

>> THANK YOU.

I CAN'T WAIT TO DO THAT.