Rachel Lyon and one of her crew from Northern Kentucky University
Tulsa, OK -
A film crew is documenting the Good Friday Shootings and another infamous part of Tulsa's history. Rachel Lyon and her crew from Northern Kentucky University are looking at how the media portrayed the 2012 shooting compared to the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.
The Good Friday shootings are top of mind to many. " It can't be nothing but a hate crime," Johnny Johnson told Tulsa's Channel 8 and Lyon's crew. The Tulsa native says he lost a close friend and countless others lost their sense of security. The crime spree that left three dead and two others injured, also captured the attention of the nation and noted filmmaker Rachel Lyon. "Once the shootings happened, knowing about the 1921 Riots, it just seemed like there was an arc of what we could see now and say today is a hate crime and what was pushed under the rug, shoved, almost with the media at the time to not talk about and not write about, not get the Tulsa Race Riots into the history books etc.," she explained.
Lyon says people everywhere can learn from Tulsa, a city with a history with some sure there's a racial divide dogging it still. Citizens, like Johnson, are eager to tell their story. They hope to shed light on what's often whispered and keep the memories of those lost alive. For Johnson, it's victim Bobby Clark. "That's one of the nicest guys I ever met in my life, and I'm speaking from the heart," he said.
Lyon says PBS and others are interested in the project. She hopes to have it released in 2013.
