National Day of Reconciliation & Healing From the Legacy of Enslavement Still No Apology From ABC News Concerning the Tulsa Race Riot
(Tulsa, OK) - May 31st and June 1st mark the anniversary of one of the worst domestic terrorist acts in modern American history. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, where 300 and some estimate over 3,000, African-Americans were violently killed and thousands displaced from their homes by fellow white Americans. The history of this American tragedy still receives no mention in the national media, while the anniversary of terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11 has been memorialized by Patriots Day and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing still receives greater recognition.
ABC News has yet to acknowledge their erroneous reporting of the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing in 2005 as the worst domestic terrorist act in U.S. history, ignoring the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
Still No Apology From ABC News Nightline For False Statement Concerning Domestic Terrorism in 2005
No acknowledgment by President Bush. No public acknowledgment by Congressional leaders. No news story on CNN. No coverage by FOX News. No discussion on MSNBC. No mention by the Governor of Oklahoma.
"Just like Juneteenth, the "19th of June", America's 2nd Independence Day, America's dark history of domestic terrorism through the lynching and murder of thousands of Americans of African descent should never be forgotten," states Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Founder & Chairman of the National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC), sponsors of the National Day of Reconciliation and Healing From the Legacy of Enslavement that takes place on the, "3rd Friday in June", during the week of the observance of Juneteenth in America.
"During the our annual National Juneteenth Black Holocaust "Maafa" Memorial Service, which takes place during the National Day of Reconciliation and Healing From the Legacy of Enslavement, we will have some of the names of victims of lynching and racial acts of domestic terrorism read aloud," states Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., also Founder & Chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF), host of the 2008 WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance, June 17-21, 2008, in the nation's capitol. "America needs healing from the legacy of enslavement which includes acts of racial violence and murder. It should not be ignored, but embraced with honesty and a sincere desire for racial healing and reconciliation."
"MAAFA" (pronounced MAH-AH-FAH) is a Kiswahili word that means great calamity, catastrophe, tragedy or disaster. It is a term describing African-Americans own unique holocaust and tragic loss of life in American history, including the Middle Passage where millions of Africans died on slave ships on the journey from the west coast of Africa to the Americas.
Dr. Myers, who has was formerly appointed National Advisory Chairman of America's Black Holocaust Museum by the late museum's founder, Dr. James Cameron, a lynching survivor, was encouraged by the Senate apology for lynching during the week of Juneteenth in 2005.
"We will also acknowledge the historic legislative efforts made by former Congressman Tony Hall to gain a congressional apology for slavery, during our first annual year 2000 WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance, and states, including Virginia, Alabama and New Jersey, that have passed historic legislation apologizing for enslavement," states Rev. Myers. "The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 should be embraced by all Americans as a part history that demonstrates how far we have come and yet need to go to bring closure to decades of racial violence."
The National Juneteenth Black Holocaust "Maafa" Memorial Service is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 20, 2008, at Lincoln Park United Methodist Church, Rev., Dr. Harold D. Lewis, Sr., Pastor, 1301 N. Carolina Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC, beginning at 11:30am. President Bush has been invited again this year to address those in attendance. Similar "Maafa" memorial services have been held as a part of Juneteenth observances across the country, including New Orleans, Louisiana and Burlington, Vermont.
"We humbly request all Americans of consciousness join us in the remembrance of the thousands Americans who have been victims of racial violence in America," states Rev. Myers. "We hope that President Bush will personally acknowledge the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 as a remembrance of the "Maafa", as he has done for the loss of life and tragedy of 9/11. We hope President Bush will also acknowledge the National Day of Reconciliation and Healing From the Legacy of Slavery, on Friday, June 20, 2008."
For information on the National Juneteenth Black Holocaust "Maafa" Memorial Service, the National Day of Reconciliation and Healing from the Legacy of Slavery, the 2008 WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance and the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign, contact Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D. at 662-247-3364, 662-247-1471, or e-mail: MyersFound@aol.com or web sites: www.Juneteenth.us, www.19thofJune.com and www.njclc.com.
