Acres of Aspiration: The All Black Towns in Oklahoma

by Hannibal B. Johnson

Beulah Land. Paradise. Shangri-la. Oklahoma seemed to be all of these in the hostile, racist, post–Civil War South. Seeking both refuge and respect, pioneers such as Edward P. McCabe championed the idea of Oklahoma as an all-Black state. And all-Black towns proliferated there. Some sixty all-Black towns, along with Tulsa's Greenwood District, bear witness to the deep creativity and incredible human spirit of the people who built them.

261 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Mayor McCheese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of unique content that I enjoyed reading about and was fascinating to me in understanding a portion of history that I have not known much about. Particularly meaningful was the hope and courage and spirit of Black Americans who founded these towns in the South after the reality set in that the Civil War and amendments 13-15 would not in fact provide the equality that all Americans deserved. The book is highly factual but I would have preferred more of a literary theme on top of the facts, some type of more powerful overlay to tie the different facets and stories together to bring it home a bit more.