The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission has announced that its highly anticipated "Remember & Rise" event has been canceled. “Unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers” have been cited as the reason for the sudden cancellation. Hill Harper, Stacey Abrams and John Legend were set to attend the grand event at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend. Brandon Leake of America's Got Talent, Damon Lindelof of Watchmen and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg were also set to participate in the nationally televised gathering.
“The Centennial Commission is unable to fulfill our high expectations for Monday afternoon’s commemoration event and has determined not to move forward with the event at this time,” the commission told Deadline.
“We have hopes to reschedule later in this 100th commemorative year. We apologize for the disappointment and any inconvenience caused to ticketholders; if rescheduled, ticket holders will be notified first.”
The "unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers" that organizers identified reportedly stems from a dispute with survivors of the massacre. According to a report from CBS News, a lawyer representing survivors of the massacre has demanded that a $50 million fund be put in place for survivors and their descendants. The unnamed lawyer also asks that $1 million be distributed to each survivor of the massacre. In response to this report, the lawyer claims that survivors of the massacre never agreed to participate and asserts that the commission has not been negotiating in good faith.
"We are disappointed in this last-minute change but there is still so much to look forward to this weekend and we are still so proud of the work of the Commission over the past five years," Phil Armstrong of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission said.
"I hope you'll join us at the Candlelight Vigil, at the Pathway to Hope, at one of the many great events other community organizations are hosting and of course at Greenwood Rising."
Photo Credit: Getty Images