‘Surviving R. Kelly’s Dream Hampton joins Cineflix’s Tulsa Race Massacre docuseries

Dream Hampton

Dream Hampton, the exec producer behind Lifetime’s docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, has been attached to Cineflix Productions’ new show Black Wall Street (working title).

Hampton will executive produce and direct the limited series, which will explore one of the worst episodes of racial violence in US history. Broadcaster/streamer details have not been announced.

The show traces events between 31 May and 1 June, 1921, in which more than 300 African Americans were killed, thousands displaced, and the Oklahoman city was set on fire. The tragedy was covered up but Tulsa’s mayor, G.T. Bynum, has opened a controversial investigation to locate the unknown sites of the mass graves, something opposed by some in Oklahoma who would rather leave history ignored.

Hampton was previously behind Surviving R. Kelly, which broke ratings records for US cabler Lifetime, and also has credits on Frameline feature documentary Treasure, HBO feature doc It’s A Hard Truth Ain’t It and BET docuseries Finding Justice.

“After 99 years of silence, Black Wall Street needs to be told, and there’s no one better than Dream Hampton to bring it to life,” said J.C. Mills, president and commercial director at Cineflix Productions.

“Driven by social justice, her sensitive yet hard-hitting approach will honour the fallen and help heal a wound by shining a light on a story that’s been brushed under the rug for far too long. If the recent tragic stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have shown us anything, it’s that there’s still much work to be done.”

Hampton added: “Black people from Tulsa have refused to let the Greenwood District Massacre be erased from history. I’m so inspired by their persistence to lift up the stories of what North Tulsa was before the massacre. They are proud that their ancestors, just a generation out of slavery, purchased land and created businesses that personified Black excellence.

“As the centennial approaches they are still searching for a mass grave they believe contains the bodies of the victims of the Black Wall Street Massacre, and they are still demanding reparations. I’m inspired to learn this history from them, and to tell their ongoing story.”