Review — WE REFUSE TO FORGET: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by Caleb Gayle
In We Refuse to Forget, award-winning journalist Caleb Gayle tells the extraordinary story of the Creek Nation, a Native tribe that two centuries ago both owned slaves and accepted Black people as full citizens. Thanks to the efforts of Creek leaders like Cow Tom, a Black Creek citizen who rose to become chief, the U.S. government recognized Creek citizenship in 1866 for its Black members. Yet this equality was shredded in the 1970s when tribal leaders revoked the citizenship of Black Creeks, even those who could trace their history back generations–even to Cow Tom himself.
Why did this happen? How was the U.S. government involved? And what are Cow Tom’s descendants and other Black Creeks doing to regain their citizenship? These are some of the questions that Gayle explores in this provocative examination of racial and ethnic identity. By delving into the history and interviewing Black Creeks who are fighting to have their citizenship reinstated, he lays bare the racism and greed at the heart of this story. We Refuse to Forget is an eye-opening account that challenges our preconceptions of identity as it shines new light on the long shadows of white supremacy and marginalization that continue to hamper progress for Black Americans.
I normally love to read nonfiction about indigenous people, but I struggled with this book.
I’m not sure Gayle’s personal story of being a Jamaican American had much of anything to do with the story of the Black Creeks. His choice to blend his memoir with unrelated history felt disjointed throughout. I get that he was trying to show the shared issues of being Black in a white America, but it was a stretch for me.
The writing is dry, informative over narrative.
Some content is unnecessarily repetitive, while other parts are quickly glossed over.
I found Cow Tom’s story fascinating, and the Black Creeks’ history interesting as well as sad, but overall I struggled to stay connected.
*Thanks to Riverhead Books for the finished copy!*
The post Review — WE REFUSE TO FORGET: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by Caleb Gayle appeared first on Quiet Fury Books.
