Tulsa Listening Session On Wrongful Convictions To Empower Public Comment

I'm hosting an event that will bring together experts and community for a conversation on solutions.

TULSA, Okla.--Experts in law, politics, history, art and advocacy will join community members for a panel discussion and interactive listening session highlighting solutions to wrongful convictions and state violence at Silhouette Sneakers & Art and Greenwood Griot Saturday, May 23, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tulsa’s Black Wall Street, located at 10 N. Greenwood.

Panelists include Oklahoma Innocence Project Legal Director Andrea Miller, Black Wall Street Historian Chief Egunwale Amusan, Domestic Violence Intervention Services CEO Tracey Lyall, Representative Ron Stewart (D-Tulsa), award-winning filmmaker Dr. Tamecca Rogers and Historic Vernon A.M.E. Associate Pastor Francetta Mays. Registration is free on Eventbrite.

The Tulsa Listening Session is a free event to learn about issues impacting their neighbors and their tax dollars. Registration is free at eventbrite. The session is organized by InDepthDocs, a documentary project and community platform created by journalist Deon Osborne.

“With over 45 exonerations documented by the National Registry of Exonerations, resulting in 486 years lost, Oklahoma should be concerned with the problem of wrongful convictions,” said Andrea Miller, Oklahoma Innocence Project Legal Director. “Those lost years don’t just impact the person who was wrongfully convicted, but the family and friends of that person who has been taken away by mistakes in the criminal legal system. The reality of wrongful convictions is that it could happen to anyone. That should be something that everyone is concerned about.”

Pushing for Solutions

In recent years, the city of Tulsa has settled millions in wrongful conviction lawsuits, survivors of domestic violence have sought relief from long prison sentences and youthful offenders in juvenile custody have endured abuse at the hands of staff members.

State Rep. Ron Stewart (D-Tulsa) co-authored HB 1574, a bill that would require inspections and investigations of juvenile facilities suspected of abusing youth. It becomes law without the governor’s signature on May 14.

“My support for this measure is rooted in the belief that accountability strengthens systems. Facilities and providers that are doing the right thing should welcome oversight because it builds trust with families, communities, and the public,” said Rep. Stewart. “At the same time, children who are already navigating trauma, instability, or involvement with the juvenile justice system deserve the assurance that someone is looking out for their safety and well-being.”

Teaching the Truth and Restorative Justice

The event will aim to educate residents about Conviction Integrity Units and generate a grassroots public comment form that will be sent to city and state lawmakers.

“I teach about city and state violence because silence has been the primary weapon of continuity,” said Black Wall Street historian Chief Egunwale Amusan. “The massacre was scrubbed from textbooks, omitted from public memory, and reframed as a ‘riot’. That is language that shifts blame onto the victims and obscures the role of government power. When the State authors the violence and authors the forgetting, the only corrective is someone willing to stand in the breach and teach the receipts.”

The panel will take place from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. inside Silhouette Sneakers & Art. It will be live-streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Substack. To register, click here.

Panelists:

• Oklahoma Innocence Project Legal Director Andrea Miller

• Black Wall Street Historian Chief Egunwale Amusan

• Domestic Violence Intervention Services CEO Tracey Lyall

• Representative Ron Stewart (D-Tulsa),

• Award-winning filmmaker Dr. Tamecca Rogers

• Historic Vernon A.M.E. Associate Pastor Francetta Mays

Following the panel, participants will have the opportunity to walk next door to Greenwood Griot to break into groups for a listening session, where they’ll share perspectives and brainstorm solutions from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“The state fails survivors of violence when systems designed to protect them instead punish them for surviving. Too often, survivors are met with barriers instead of support — from not being believed, to lacking access to trauma-informed legal defense, to receiving harsher outcomes when they defend themselves against abuse,” said Dr. Tamecca Rogers. “In Oklahoma, where domestic violence and female incarceration rates remain among the highest in the nation, we must ask ourselves whether justice is truly serving survivors or simply retraumatizing them through the system itself.”

About InDepthDocs:

An educational documentary project that uses digital storytelling, interactive tools and in-person community sessions to connect neighbors, deepen perspectives, and amplify unheard voices to drive transformative change. InDepthDocs is fiscally sponsored by the Third Space Foundation. To learn more, visit indepthdocs.com