Charles Ogletree Premieres New Film on the Tulsa Race Riot

Charles Ogletree Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law School, is the co-producer of a new documentary film, Before They Die, which tells the story of the 1921 Tulsa race riot and urges that reparations be paid to the African-American survivors “before they die.”

Professor Ogletree has served as the chief legal adviser to the survivors of the race riot in their effort to obtain reparations.


The riot occurred in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was known as the “Black Wall Street.” Spurred by rumors that a black man had assaulted a white woman in a downtown elevator, whites rampaged through the black neighborhood, burning 30 city blocks to the ground. As many as 300 African Americans were killed.

Readers interested in learning more about the documentary can do so by clicking here.