By Eagle Newswire
The third annual Terence Crutcher Foundation Memorial Gala was a sold-out event on Sept. 14 at the downtown DoubleTree Hotel.
There were select images, messages and newspaper clippings highlighting pivotal moments in the years since Terence Crutcher was killed during an officer-involved shooting by former Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby in 2016.
Tiffany Crutcher, the twin sister of Terence Crutcher, said the arrangement encapsulates different stages of the movement since its inception.
“One of the goals of the foundation is to change the narrative that perceived black and brown and marginalized people as bad,” she said. “I said I wasn’t gonna let bigotry and hatred and racism control my brother’s story. And that’s what this has been all about.”
A host of community leaders and activists were honored, including local attorney and The Oklahoma Eagle editor James O. Goodwin, Chief Egunwale Amusan, Onikah Asamoa-Caesar, Pastor Robert Turner, and Judge Sharon Holmes. Ben Crump served as the keynote speaker. Also present were Ms. Etta Barre and Ms. Roma Presley, mothers who also suffered the loss of a son at the hands of police officers.
Also in attendance were saxophonist Angella Christie, Tony, Mason, Bertrick Bailey, Etan Thomas, Jerica Wortham, and the TTown Satin Dolls.