Damario Solomon-Simmons on the 105-Year Legal Battle After the Tulsa Race Massacre

Host (Sunny): The fight for reparations for Black Americans has been met with huge resistance — I talk about it on our show all the time. There is a photo in your book that was taken in the aftermath of the massacre. (photo displayed on screen) You return to this image when you are in need of strength. Why does this particular picture mean so much to you?

Damario Solomon-Simmons: Because doing this work — and I’ve been doing this work for almost 30 years — there’s a lot of heartache. A lot of loss. A lot of odds, obstacles, and opposition. A lot of times I want to give up. I get distressed. I get depressed. But then I look at this photo, taken just days after the massacre.

To the right is Attorney B.C. Franklin — the father of Dr. John Hope Franklin. To the left is Attorney W. Spears, and their assistant. This is a tent they set up because their law office had been burned down. They were practicing law days after the massacre, filing lawsuits against the very people who had just destroyed their community.

So when I’m feeling low and I feel like giving up — and that does happen — I look at this photo and say: if these gentlemen could be out here as Black lawyers, days after a massacre, fighting for their community… I can withstand anything.

Host: Yes. Yes, you can. Yes. (laughs) See why I love this book. Now, what is so striking in the book is the resilience of the survivors who were part of this lawsuit. Let’s say their names — Hughes Van Ellis Sr., known as Uncle Red. Viola Fletcher, known as Mother Fletcher. And Lessie Benningfield Randle, known as Mother Randle — who remains the last living survivor of the massacre. I understand you grew very close to them. How do you want them to be remembered?

Damario Solomon-Simmons: As fighters. When I sat down with each of them and said, “Hey, we’re going to try to bring this lawsuit. I can’t guarantee anything — but would you like to be a part of this?” — they all said, “Listen, we are owed. We don’t really need anything for ourselves, but if we can be a catalyst for our community and our families, put us on the front lines.”

These people came to every court hearing. We had many of them. And those hearings — they were hours. They stayed in that courtroom.

Michael Harriot sits down with the author of “Redeem A Nation: The Century Long Battle to Restore the Soul of America