The Legacy of Black Wall Street explores the lingering economic, psychological and emotional impacts

A frank conversation with director Nailah Jefferson (Descended From the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street) moderated by Washington Post journalist, Nicole Ellis.
The Legacy of Black Wall Street explores the lingering economic, psychological and emotional impacts
Director Nailah Jefferson says that her film "Descended From the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street" is a meditation on the resilience of black people, a mediation on lost, a meditation on what could be, a meditation on hopes for the future and also a meditation on the joys that black people have and what they create.

If the Tulsa Race Massacre had never happened, would Black Wall Street have influenced the entire nation?

In 1921, North Tulsa’s Greenwood District, the most prosperous Black community in America, was set ablaze, bombed, and looted during a racially motivated violent attack against the thriving Black community. Businesses, homes, and lives were lost, and Black Wall Street, as it was known, has never reclaimed its former glory. The Tulsa Race Massacre was only the first in a line of repeated targeted attacks on the progress of the Greenwood District and its residents.

Through the lens of Black Wall Street descendants Byron Crenshaw, Jacqueline Blocker and Michelle Blocker, we draw a century-long thread from the Tulsa Race Massacre to the present, exploring the lingering economic, psychological and emotional impacts that have undermined the rebuilding of the once thriving community.

Through intimate interviews and lyrical verite, Byron, Jacqueline, Michelle and their family members reach back to uplift the stories of their forebears, the success they created, the pride they possess, while also reckoning with the unfulfilled potential of what could have been a Black Promised Land.

00:00 Intros
00:49 Nicole Ellis talks about one of the moments in the film that stood out to her
01:22 Nailah Jefferson tells the truth about the Tulsa Massacre
02:05 what was going on in Tulsa for the last 100 hundred years
2:35 "massacre" not a "race riot"
4:10 Nailah Jefferson felt encouraged when she heard that this film, descended from the promised land was a part of the healing process for the descendants of the Tulsa massacre
5:20 Nailah Jefferson has an issue with black people and resilience, she feels as though it's too much of a burden
7:57 Nailah Jefferson says that black people are amazing and dynamic, were smart, innovative...where would we be if all of these policy weren't put in place to stop our progress
8:23 Nailah Jefferson speaks to the takeaways from the film, descended from the promised land for herself and the audience.
9:09 Nailah Jefferson hopes that we can to begin the process of reclaiming our narrative and reclaiming our property
9:37 Nailah Jefferson loved filming with the descendants of the Tulsa Massacre
13:49 Nailah Jefferson say that for 100 years the descendants of the Tulsa Massacre were not allowed to tell there stories
20:30 Nailah Jefferson wanted to give space to the descendants of the Tulsa Massacre to really meditate on what happen at the Tulsa Massacre
21:01 Nailah Jefferson says that descended from the promise land is really a meditation on loss and what could be, a meditation on hope for the future and also a meditation on the resilence of black people

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