WASHINGTON - December 15 - NEW LEGAL STEPS ANNOUNCED IN TULSA REPARATIONS LAWSUIT;PRAYER RALLY, PRESS CONFERENCE PLANNED FOR DEC. 15-16

John Hope Franklin, noted African American historian and plaintiff in Alexander v. Governor, State of Oklahoma, joins with other plaintiffs and attorneys, Charles J. Ogletree and Michael Hausfeld, Dec. 15 and 16, to file their response to the State and City of Tulsa's motions to dismiss an historic lawsuit seeking reparations in response to the 1921 destruction of the Greenwood District in Tulsa. Dr. Franklin will meet with co-plaintiffs, more than 100 of whom he knows personally.

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND ASSIGNMENT DESKS: Supporters of the plaintiffs will hold a prayer rally at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15 and a press conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16. Both events will take place at Tulsa's Greenwood Cultural Center.

In responses filed in court Monday, the aging plaintiffs are rebuffing the governments' arguments that too much time has passed since the 1921 destruction of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, known popularly as "Black Wall Street." They argue that they were not allowed to sustain legal actions or rebuild their homes and businesses immediately following the lawsuit because of governmental interference with their rights to get reparations for the destruction of their homes and businesses and bodily injuries, including the deaths of some of their family members.

The plaintiffs contend that the State can be prohibited from continuing the conspiracy of silence that includes the involvement of law enforcement in the destruction of the Greenwood District and the refusal to absolve the survivors of wrongdoing. The failure of the State and City to provide meaningful reparations after the Oklahoma Legislature adopted the report of the Tulsa Race Riot Commission in February 2001 is cited as another example of their unwillingness to do the right and just thing.

It is only fitting that John Hope Franklin, the lead descendant in this case, is present at the filing of the plaintiffs' responses to the governments' attempts to once again avoid responsibility for the plaintiffs' injuries. His father, Buck Colbert Franklin, was one of the first African American lawyers in Oklahoma and practiced in Tulsa in the Greenwood District.His law office was burned. This lawsuit, if successful, will finally make amends for the grievous injuries inflicted on those, like the Franklins, who lost so much at the hands of a vicious mob supported even after the destruction by state and city governments.

The lawsuit has gained national attention and support. A number of legal organizations are planning to file briefs in support of the plaintiffs' claims. The survivors and descendants are asking the court to hold a hearing on the governments' motions to dismiss. If granted, this will be the first step in allowing them to have their day in court -- a day long in coming for the 123 survivors and 272 descendants who filed this action and a day ten of the survivors who filed this action in February 2003 did not live to see. The plaintiffs, their counsel and supporters will continue in the spirit of these ten: J. D. Bell (82), Willie Bell Jackson (92), Ernestine Gibbs (100), Alice Higgs Lollis (87), Simon Richardson (89), Bessie Mae Vestor (84), Simeon Neal (82), Ruth Nash (88), Clarence Bruner (89) and Myrtle Napier Oliver (92).