Post date: May 14, 2012 10:55:49 PM
I am writing to ask you to join me and my wife Lia in sending help to a special family.
Last month, two gunmen went on what appears to be a racially-motivated rampage and terrorized the predominantly black north-side of Tulsa, Oklahoma. When the dust cleared, two black men and a black woman were dead. Miraculously, two black men survived despite being shot in the attacks.
These hate crimes have left the community in shock and conjured terrifying memories. It was the worst episode of racial violence in Tulsa since the 1920s, when whites rioted in the city, killing African Americans while setting alight many black-owned homes and businesses.
Not long after last month's attacks, I travelled to Tulsa to sit with the families of the victims, and to meet the survivors. One by one, they described how the killers methodically hunted each victim, luring them under the guise of asking for directions, then raising a gun and shooting at their chests.
In response to the tragedy, the local community has come together to demand justice. They have also pitched in to help the victims' families with burial and medical expenses.
In recent days, it has become clear that more help is needed to ensure the survivors can pay their medical and recovery-related expenses and avoid financial ruin.
The Oklahoma NAACP is organizing a campaign to help pay for the survivors’ additional medical and recovery-related expenses, and needs your help. Please help the two survivors of this vicious hate crime – visit the link below to donate today:
http://action.naacp.org/help-tulsa-victims
The two surviving victims of the Tulsa shootings, Deon Tucker and David Hall, face enormous medical and recovery-related expenses with limited income – one is on disability, while the other works construction and only gets paid if he works. The process of recovering from their bullet wounds is slow, and expensive.
They have already survived a literal nightmare – please help ensure the cost of their survival does not become a financial one.
I continue to be humbled and inspired by our community's ability to come together when it matters most, and am confident that whether it’s $5, $20, or $100, you’ll offer what you can to help these families in need.
Please, on this day when we celebrate family, let's join together in support of these survivors – click the form below to make a tax-deductible donation to help cover the shooting victims’ medical and recovery-related expenses:
http://action.naacp.org/help-tulsa-victims
Thank you,
Ben
Benjamin Todd Jealous
President & CEO
NAACP