Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

by Carole Boston Weatherford, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

A look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in US history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.

News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, African American, Historical, Social Justice

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2021

About the author

Carole Boston Weatherford is a children's book author and poet who mines the past for family stories, traditions, and struggles. A number of CAROLE's books tell the stories of African-American historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Jesse Owens, and Billie Holiday. Other books recount historical events such as the Greensboro Sit-ins and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. CAROLE's books have received a wide variety of awards, including a Caldecott Honour for “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom”.

Reviews

[Margaret M - (having a challenging time and on GR as much as I can) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Unspeakable" but lets speak about the Tulsa Race Massacre.

The next stop in the US (and 21st in the world tour) takes me to Tulsa in 1921 to witness one of the worst racial attacks in US history.

This short story aimed at teaching young people the history of Oklahoma and the appalling treatment of the black community sparked an interest in me to read and research more of the period, the events and the outcome, and here it is…

A sixteen hour massacre at Greenwood Tulsa was in response to the black community of Tulsa protesting against the wrongful imprisonment of a young boy who was being held on assault charges against a white elevator operator. An event that ignited the racial resentment against the black community that had prospered, developed and turned Greenwood into the ‘Black Wall Street’ of the US. A thriving period, one to be celebrated when all sections of the community could enjoy a better life. Instead, the motives of many was to restrict black Political and Economic progression and to reassert white supremacy in the region.

So, as the assembled mob and ‘white supremacists turned violent on Greenwood and up to 300 people were massacred, 1,250 homes were burned down, 200 businesses were robbed, looted and destroyed and the over 8,000 people left homeless. Some chose never to return, others that did never found justice or the same level of prosperity for many decades to come. Shocking, and brutally racist.

When speaking of Tulsa’s Reconciliation Park, the author not just celebrates the bronze statue as a monument and reminder of all the African Americans massacred there but “It is a place to realise the responsibility we all have to reject hatred and violence and to instead choose hope”.

How true and how little some have learned from history, but still- there’s always’HOPE’.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the suspension of the Goodreads Choice 2021 Picture Book category, I was of mixed feelings; first, my family yearly rates all the nominees, but we had in recent years been less impressed with the nominees (which Rod Brown found were often published by Amazon subsidiaries). So I consulted a couple sources for likely Caldecott Award nominees, and I asked a few people to read them with me; in general they are so much better than, for instance, last year’s GR bunch. As my kids get older, they have mostly dropped out of the reading, but I still have anywhere from 2-4 readers with me this year.

#6 is “Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre,” by Carol Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper, about one of the worst racial incidents in US history (but there is of course an unhealthy competion), in 1921, but this one was left out of history books for decades.

R (retired librarian): (5 stars). Clear, concise, historical. Appropriate teaching illustrations. One of the very best of the year.

J (poet/arts educator): (5 stars). Very powerful and beautiful. One of the best of the year, without question.

T (electrician): (5 stars). Very moving. Important history.

Dave (teacher, me) (5 stars). Great and necessary introduction for older children to the Tulsa Race Massacre, a grim and shameful moment in American history everyone needs to know about. In Tulsa at that time, the white population in the city completely destroyed a successful and thriving black business community, among other things. I connect it to another horrible racial injustice story from Oklahoma, Killers of the Flower Moon, about indigenous people that had been forced to relocate to a small town, hit oil, got very rich (haha, revenge is the best medicine), and then became targets of racism and greed in jaw-dropping fashion. No, this is not something we just "need to get behind us so we can move on," or erase on a website so we can feel better about ourselves; this is something we need to face and discuss honestly so it never happens again. One of my favorite picture books of the 2021 year, and glad it is accessible to children.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first learned of the Tulsa Race Massacre from an excellent history teacher when I took African American history in high school. Recently the massacre has received newfound attention after the release of the hit HBO show Watchmen and during the summer of 2020. As a result, many Americans may have learned about it for the first time in the last year. If fully grown adults are just finding out about it now, then it is safe to assume that most children are oblivious about it as well. Carole Weatherford and Floyd Cooper have produced a new children’s book about the massacre just in time for the 100th anniversary of the horrible event in June 2021. Their book is filled with beautiful illustrations, the people portrayed in it look lifelike. It also contains very specific historical details such as the incident that led to the massacre, the notable people involved, and it highlights some of the important establishments in Tulsa at the time. The Author’s and Illustrator’s notes both contain more historical information about the massacre at the end of the book. Cooper even has a personal connection to it. This book will be great for both children and adults to read so that they are knowledgeable about this important and tragic event in American history.

Thanks to NetGalley, Carolrhoda Books, Carole Weatherford, and Floyd Cooper for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on February 2, 2021.

Review first published in Ballasts for the Mind: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. Very moving 😭😭😭 SO important for young readers to understand ALL of our history, even the "unspeakable" past, of which there is too much 😭😭

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the documentary on Black Wallstreet a Christmas or two ago when it came out. I was beyond shocked that something like this had happened in the US. Then, I realized that, yes, of course something like this has happened in the US. It broke my heart to watch. The violence was on such a massive scale, there was NO justice. It's a horror show is what it is. It's one of the things right now that scare me about where we are in the country today. We can't let violence like this come back. Anyway.

I was not sure I could handle this story again, but I did give it a read. The artwork is so beautiful. It is done in oils and erasure. There is a hazy, smokey quality to the art. The first few pages set up the beauty. The violence here is hinted at in the style the art takes and is not directly shown. There are pictures from the time in the back of the book that are important to see.

The story is told like an old bedtime story in verse with each verse starting, 'Once upon a time'. It's almost like the author is talking about some magical place and in ways it was. This shows that people of color could thrive and be very successful and almost more successful than the white people. The subject is handled very well and very digestible for kids. It does end on a message of hope showing what the people of Tulsa have done to remember this.

It's an amazing story book about a very dark event in our troubled history. It's something to learn from and grow from. Knowing our past will prevent us from repeating the past in the future - let us hope.

This is a great last page that is from the author and illustrator not to be skipped about some more history.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying and failing for some time to find a way to talk about this book in some cohesive way, so I'm just going to start writing down my thoughts and hope I land somewhere. I think this is about as bearable and accessible of an account of the Tulsa Race Massacre as could possibly exist. It manages to convey the events in a very clear-eyed way, while still allowing space for the raw emotion of it.

We spend a large portion of the book considering the beauty of the community of Greenwood as it was before May 31, 1921, the marvelous achievement and perseverance of this group of people who were determined to pull together and form a nurturing, thriving society on their own terms. We find out in the end notes that illustrator Floyd Cooper grew up hearing stories of his own grandfather's childhood in Greenwood (he talks about this on the Brown Bookshelf), and I feel like this closeness to the subject is evident in every page; this is the absolute best work I've seen from Cooper, bar none. The subtleness and breadth of humanity he renders here is breathtaking.

When we get to the events leading to the massacre itself, we have a deep sense of what was lost-- the people, the businesses, the homes, the ability to build and strive, the hope that the contributions that Black citizens had made to that point would lead to more respect or better treatment. At the same time, I don't think it is told heavy handedly. There is only so much you can boil this down; the word massacre is the only apt one, and can't be ignored, and must be explained. How can you do that while looking away from its truth? You can't. And this story looks at that truth unflinchingly yet tells it with as soft a hand as possible.

In the end I learned things I never knew, and I cried my eyes out over the depth of the betrayal and injustice. It's a hard story, but one that definitely needs to be remembered and discussed.

Edited to add: Another reviewer commented on the dated use of the terms "Blacks" and "whites", which I'll be honest my eyes kind of skipped over. It does seem odd in a modern telling of the story.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never learned about this in school, and I'm glad that it's getting attention now. This should be taught, it should not be forgotten, and it should not be swept under the rug because it's unpleasant. This book does a good job of conveying the sorrow of what happened, without being overly graphic, so it's a good book to use to start the conversation about this terrible event with children of any age. The pictures are beautiful, and the clear prose almost reads like a poem. There's also a very good historical note at the end with photographs.

[Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the definition of everything a children’s nonfiction book should be. It’s written on a level easily understood by them, without talking down to them and omitting unpleasantness to spare their feelings. The illustrations are some of the best I’ve seen. Highly recommended, and if your local school bans it, I encourage you to purchase copies for the library.

This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sadly true story with great art. The history lesson here is short and quickly conveys this message about the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 31/June 1, 1921. Black Wall Street was burned down; 300 African Americans were killed; More than 8,000 were left homeless.

Did you learn about this in your USA classroom growing up?

This is a Caldecott Honor book, with great artwork.
The text is crisp and easy to read.
This history lesson needs to be taught and remembered.
This is the perfect beginner book!

[Carol Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Floyd Cooper's illustrations convey such a depth of humanity and tragedy and hope.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I learned of this massacre merely a few years ago. The book speaks of this tragedy with grace, dignity and is approachable for young readers.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Tulsa Race Massacre for children with the emphasis on what African Americans had accomplished and managed to build in Greenwood before the massacre despite racism and segregation. The massacre itself is limited to a couple of spreads that don't depict explicit violence but speak of its toll and lets the reader linger on what has been lost.

The illustrator's note in the end matter makes me wonder why they didn't use his grandfather's story to make the book more personal instead of taking the slightly removed tone of a history that it has.

I recently read and recommend Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre, a graphic novel about the same event.

(Another project! I'm reading all the picture books and graphic novels from NPR's Books We Love 2021: Kids’ Books list.)

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre from the Jacqueline Woodson's novel, RED TO THE BONE. (Evidence of our inadequate Black history education). I wish someone had read this book to me when I was a child. The language is beautiful. The illustrations are captivating. Even though it relayed a horrific event, I was riveted. My next road trip will be to Tulsa to see the monuments.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history is vividly told by author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper in a sensitively crafted picture book introducing young readers to this horrific event. The narrative chronicling the rise of Tulsa's Greenwood district, known as "Black Wall Street" is fablelike but the story jarringly turns to nightmare following a confrontation between black and white citizens over an attempted lynching. In retaliation, a white mob descended upon and laid waste to the prosperous Black community, leaving as many 300 people massacred. Seventy-five years passed before there was an official investigation and attempts made toward truth and reconciliation.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie’s Picks: UNSPEAKABLE: THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper, ill., Lerner/Carolrhoda, February 2021, 32p., ISBN: 978- 1-5415-8120-3

“The Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 concluded that the violence left from 150 to 300 people dead and more than 8,000 homeless.”
--from the Author’s Note

“The recent protests and public reaction to George Floyd’s murder are a testament to many individuals deep commitment to renewing the founding ideals of the republic. But there is another, more dangerous, side to this debate--one that seeks to rehabilitate toxic political notions of racial superiority, stokes fears of immigrants and minorities to inflame grievances for political ends, and attempts to build a notion of an embattled white majority which has to defend its power by any means necessary. These notions, once the preserve of fringe white nationalist groups, have increasingly infiltrated the mainstream of American political and cultural discussion, with poisonous results. For a starting point, one must look no further than [former] President Donald Trump’s senior advisor for policy and chief speechwriter Stephen MIller.”
-- Simon Clark, “How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics” americanprogress.org (2020)

In reading analysis of last year's events, I’ve encountered several references to the Tulsa Race Massacre, the worst racial attack against Blacks in American history. Last year, THE BLACK KIDS, a story set in LA during the Rodney King riots, contained a connection to this massacre. A documentary film focusing on the Tulsa Race Massacre is set to be released this spring.

Before 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood was home to a prosperous and productive Black community. Booker T. Washington characterized a stretch of Greenwood Avenue as America’s “Negro Wall Street.”

Unfortunately, “in 1921, not everyone in Tulsa was pleased with these signs of Black wealth--undeniable proof that African Americans could achieve just as much, if not more than, whites.
All it took was one elevator ride, one seventeen-year-old white elevator operator accusing a nineteen-year-old Black shoeshine man of assault for simmering hatred to boil over.”

With bullets and firebombs, racists destroyed Greenwood and thousands of Black lives. The link between this event and today’s white supremecists makes this book compelling and timely. The Tulsa Race Massacre was a work of domestic terrorism perpetrated by white supremecists, and there is a direct link between this 100-year old historic event and today’s white supremacist extremists, whom the US Department of Homeland Security labeled the most serious terror threat now facing America..

UNSPEAKABLE: THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE packs a powerful history lesson into a 32-page picture book. Award-winning illustrator Floyd Cooper’s gripping paintings portray the pride and the pain of the long-ago Greenwood community. Cooper has a talent for depicting humanity in his subjects. They sometimes stare out of the painting directly at the viewer. They seem to be demanding that the reader pay attention and react to what is going on.

Now, at a time when violent white supremacy is again on the rise, UNSPEAKABLE will be of great value in helping young people understand the long history of racism in America and the threat that it poses today.

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma was once home to a thriving African American community. On May 31st and June 1st 1921, a mob of armed white Tulsans attacked the community, killing as many as 300 African Americans and displacing 8,000 more. 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of what became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, the history of which was suppressed for seventy-five years.

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is a picture book by author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper. It's short at 32 pages but aims to help young readers understand these terrible events so that "we can move toward a better future for all". It's aimed at the 8-12 years age group.

Reading Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre was physically painful. In the beginning, the book describes the thriving community of Greenwood District and the high street that became known as the "Black Wall Street". The descriptions of culture, fashion and community reminded me so much of what I've read about Sophiatown and District Six in South Africa, communities with vibrant cultures that were similarly razed to the ground.

Weatherford has done a fine job of simplifying the events for young readers, but presenting sufficient detail to draw older readers into healthy debate and discussion. It would be a good platform to stimulate further research and self-study too. The author's and illustrator's notes were particularly interesting, detailing their personal reasons for being involved in this work. Of particular note is the author's comment that the event was not even taught in Oklahoma schools until the twenty-first century.

The illustrations by Floyd Cooper are exquisite, showcasing the fashions and vibrancy of Greenwood District, and ultimately the violence and devastation. The illustrations do a great job of bringing the events and people to life, ensuring that the reader relates to them and to the injustice of the events.

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is published by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this book and am pleased to note that it's being released in both the US and UK (and presumably around the world).

An advance, electronic copy of this book was provided by Netgalley for the purposes of this review.

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[Ben Truong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is a children's picture book written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. It centers on a once-thriving Black community that was destroyed, and the story of how it happened went untold for decades.

The Tulsa Race Massacre took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma – at that time the wealthiest Black community in the United States, known as "Black Wall Street".

Weatherford's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Without glossing over important facts, Weatherford tells the historical events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in language appropriate for young readers. Backmatter includes an author's and illustrator's notes, which provide valuable insight and context, as does the rear endpapers' photograph of the massacre's aftermath. Using oil and erasure to form spare backgrounds and realistic, detailed portraits, Cooper's illustrations pull readers through the events from beginning to disastrous end.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. The narrative not only focus on the events that led to the massacre, but also on the positive achievements of the Black business owners, lawyers, and doctors of Greenwood, the book succeeds in teaching the tragedy of the Tulsa Race Massacre and the legacy of Black Wall Street.

All in all, Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is a somber, well-executed addition to the history as the incident approaches its 100th anniversary.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unspeakable describes in detail the destruction of the once thriving black community of Greenwood and the massacre of countless African Americans in Tulsa in 1921. Greenwood was such a successful community that it was referred to as the Black Wall Street. However, a perceived insult to a white woman by a black teenager incited a white mob to violence, murder, burning, and looting. This book chronicles the history of African American life in Greenwood both before and after the massacre. It took 75 years before lawmakers launched an investigation into this so-called race "riot."

The illustrations perfectly complement the text by portraying, in realistic detail, the people and the town. The expressive faces clearly show the emotions felt by those depicted. At the end there is both an Author's Note that presents a more detailed history of life in Tulsa from 1836 to the present; and an Illustrator's Note in which he tells of how his Grandpa gave him a first-hand account of the Tulsa Race Massacre and how he has expressed that handed-down information in his illustrations in this book.

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is the well-deserved winner of the 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Award and an honoree of the 2022 Caldecott award. Recommended grades 3-6.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

As early as December 2020, the reviews were being published. To date, there are six starred reviews. Starred reviews from professional publications are an indicator of a book's value to the reading community and society as a whole. While a few, or sometimes many, may not agree with those professional assessments, at the very least these reviews ask us to form our own opinions by personally reading the title.

What you can never know, until you hold this book in your hands and read it, is how stunning it is and how justified those starred reviews are. When turning the pages of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., February 2, 2021) written by Carole Boston Weatherford with artwork by Floyd Cooper, you truly have to remind yourself to breathe. As the events are presented in eloquent words and illuminating images, you find yourself horrified at the suffering inflicted on an entire group of people


My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Once upon a time near Tulsa, Oklahoma, prospectors struck it rich in the oil fields. The wealth created jobs, raised buildings, and attracted newcomers from far and wide, seeking fortune and a fresh start.

There are no words. Okay, there are words, but not adequate words that do justice to the experience of reading this one. (If that makes sense.) This is without a doubt an emotional read that takes the readers on a journey.

I do think it is for mid-to-upper elementary school. I wouldn't necessarily choose it for the preschool crowd. But what a story--marvelous text, incredible illustrations. Together text and illustrations will break your heart. The first half is filled with so much hope and the possibilities while not endless perhaps seem tangible, within reach. The rest is horrifying. But just because something is horrifying doesn't mean you can ignore it or wish it away.

A hard read, to be sure, but worth it.

[Phobean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot imagine attempting to tell this story in way that reaches children who read (or who are read) picture books, but they did it. The refrain "once upon a time" helped settle the story into a slightly less frightening cadence, but the book doesn't hold back --nor does it need to. Honest, smart, and thorough --I'm glad Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper joined teams to bring the story of Tulsa to young people and their parents.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY got my hands on this book - it's been checked out since it came out. Good.

Everything's been said that could be said about this masterpiece, but personally, the ache I felt reading it, gazing at Floyd Cooper's beautiful and sensitive portraits of citizens of Greenville... and then the photo of Floyd's grandfather, who grew up in Greenville, looking just like him, with the same head tilt and skeptical expression... Floyd is gone too soon, way too soon.

[Glenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heartbreaking story of the Tulsa massacre one hundred years ago unfolds in this important children’s book. Presented in the “Once upon a time” language of fairytales, “Unspeakable” reminds us it’s never to early to teach young people the truth about our country’s racist history, a history too long buried, even among Tulsa’s residents.

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly powerful non-fiction picture book. Floyd Cooper might finally get a way overdue Caldecott (and possibly more awards), for this title. It is most definitely earned. The emotion he evokes is incredible.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This outstanding book tells an important story, while demonstrating on a meta level how to present horrific and unpleasant but factual information to children in the most positive way possible.

On June 1, 1921, as many as 10,000 armed white Tulsans attacked the thriving and prosperous Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, leaving between 150 and 300 people dead and more than 8,000 homeless. The provocation was an old and unfortunately common canard maintaining that Black men wanted to defile white women.

[This assertion was no doubt born out of projection by white men about their designs on Black women. See, for example, the book by Rachel A Feinstein, When Rape Was Legal: The Untold History of Sexual Violence During Slavery, Routledge, 2019, or the article "Rape as a Badge of Slavery: The Legal History of, and Remedies For, Prosecutorial Race-of-Vicim Charging Disparities," by Law Professor Jeffrey J. Pokorak in the Nevada Law Journal, 2006, online here.]

As Civil Rights activist W.E.B Du Bois opined in a 1929 speech about "Nordics":

They have been responsible for more intermixture of races than any other people, ancient and modern, and they have inflicted this miscegenation on helpless unwilling slaves by force, fraud and insult; and this is the folk that today has the impudence to turn on the darker races, when they demand a share of civilization, and cry: “You shall not marry our daughters!”

The blunt, crude reply is: Who in Hell asked to marry your daughters?"

This time, in Tulsa, a white girl alleged that a black teenager assaulted her in some way. The facts were in dispute, and as the Smithsonian reports in its history of the ensuing massacre, “even white police detectives thought the accusation dubious.” But as Weatherford observes in her “Author’s Note” at the end of this book, in the post-World War I environment in the U.S., racial tensions were high, with returning Black soldiers somehow thinking they might receive greater respect after having fought and shed blood for their country. Whites thought otherwise. Weatherford writes:

“Regardless of the supposed cause, the white mobs’ motives were always to limit Black political and economic progress and to reassert white supremacy.”

[Sadly, the same could be said still today of the MAGA movement and related white supremicist organizations.]

After the alleged provocation in Tulsa, which the local newspaper immediately reported on as a factual assault, a white mob formed with the aim of lynching the Black teenager. Of course, they didn’t stop with him during their sixteen-hour rampage - in fact, they never got the boy, who left town. But the white mob was undeterred: rioters broke into homes as well as businesses, robbing cash, clothing, jewelry, keepsakes and other personal property before setting fire to buildings. Ultimately, 35 square blocks burned to the ground.

Weatherford tells the story by focusing mostly on describing Greenwood before the massacre. She clearly did her homework, having availed herself of research by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, the Oklahoma and Tulsa historical societies, and the Greenwood Cultural Association.

Greenwood was called the “Negro Wall Street of America” and had dozens of restaurants, stores, several libraries, a hospital, a separate school system, a luxury hotel, two Black-owned newspapers, two movie theaters, and a Black surgeon known as “the most able Black surgeon in the nation.” (Dr.Jackson was one of those killed in the violence.). The area was marked by success and prosperity. As Weatherford recounts, “There were even six privately owned airplanes.”

Whites were resentful - just looking for an excuse to light the match, and they did.

When the National Guard arrived the day after the looting, killing, and burning, “all that was left to do was put out fires and move thousands of Black residents into camps outside of Tulsa.”

The author makes a critical observation in her Author’s Note:

“Seventy-five years passed before lawmakers launched an investigation to uncover the painful truth about the worse racial attack in United States history: police and city officials had plotted with the white mob to destroy the nation’s wealthiest Black community.”

She ends the story by mentioning Tulsa’s Reconciliation Park that memorializes the victims and is “a place to realize the responsibility we all have to reject hatred and violence and to instead choose hope.”

The book concludes with notes by both the author and the illustrator.

Award-winning illustrator Floyd Cooper has personal ties to this story; his grandfather had grown up in Greenwood. Cooper wrote in his Illustrator’s Note, “Everything I knew about this tragedy came from Grandpa; not a single teacher at school ever spoke of it.”

Cooper’s personal connection to the story is reflected in the stunning and moving pictures he created to help tell this story. He explains:

“My grandpa passed away many years ago, but I hope that my art and Carole Boston Weatherford’s words can speak for Grandpa.”

Cooper fills all the space on the double-page spreads with pictures dominated by sepia and brown tones occasionally highlighted with spots of color. The expression on the faces of the people he paints convey more than words ever could.

He uses a technique he calls “a subtractive process” by painting an illustration board with oil paint, and then applying an eraser to the paintings. The result lends softness, warmth, and texture to his mesmerizing pictures, as well as a suggestion (enhanced by his research) that readers are seeing historical representations.

Discussion: A recurring question posed by readers and writers of books for children is how to present difficult history to young children. The author herself, in an interview about this book, opined:

“I decided a few years ago to tackle the subject. If children of the past were — and still are — victimized by racial hatred, then today’s children can learn about it. I do not think that young readers are too tender for tough topics.”

Floyd Cooper, in the same interview, added:

“. . . I personally link the pervasive assault on truth that we see in our politics and media directly to historical truths that exist and have existed and are now being brought to light. A good thing for America. And of course there will be many who are and were just fine with leaving truth under the rug where it is had been swept for far too long.

Eventually, truth will always out. That is different from what it once was. With such a change comes resistance to that change, an unwillingness to accept the change, to accept the truth. That can lead to uncomfortable times. But there is a better day on the other side of change. After the wounds have healed, a much better day awaits! Our young will live in better times together in acceptance of the way things really are if we give them the truth. But we must teach them truth in ways they can comprehend. There is no greater gift than truth. [emphasis added]”

Readers wanting to know more will find a great resource in the April 2021 Smithsonian Magazine retrospective coverage of the event. There are interviews, photos, a wonderful annotated map of Black Tulsa, and testimony about the way in which the history of the massacre has been hidden for years. The article also cites the 2001 report produced over 70 years afterwards by the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, which “discovered reams of government and legal documents that had been hidden away for decades.” The commission concluded:

“There was no doubt while Tulsa officials were to blame for the massacre; they not only failed to prevent the bloodshed but had also deputized white civilians who took part in the burning and killing. And yet not one white person was brought to justice for the atrocities.”

Evaluation: Suggested readership is ages 8-12, but there is not one single American who should not read this book, learn the history it imparts, and contemplate its message. Highly recommended.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first listened to the audiobook, then I read the book to see the illustrations.

The author added actual photos from the fires.

Race Massacre…Race Massacre…Race Massacre….think about that!

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tulsa Massacre was nearly forgotten because whites brushed it under the rug...but recently, novelists and nonfiction authors, teachers, and survivors have made sure to keep the drum beating. It was not a Riot...it was a massacre, begun with either a lie or a hideous mistake, ending in the obliteration of a community...mass graves...Americans bombed by the National Guard.

Weatherford begins many of her pages with "once upon a time..." as if the story of Greenwood, OK, was a fairy tale. In a way, it was. In the middle of Oklahoma, a thriving professional community of descendents of slaves was established. Booker T Washington coined the term, "Negro Wall Street" to describe Greenwood...Everything a middle-class community would want...doctors, libraries, banks...beauty salons, a great school. Not one but two newspapers.

But one Black teen got onto one elevator run by one white teen, and lynch mobs descended.

This book seems to follow one small family as they move to Greenwood, walk down the wide streets, enter into the community with hope for the future of their two daughters. I followed Floyd Cooper's characteristic dreamy, soft illustrations highlighting this wonderful town, and watched this family's eagerness to join this community. But once the worst happens, and mobs of whites overrun, murder, burn, loot, this family disappears...I've lost them. History lost them. I may very well be reading more into these illustrations than Cooper intended...but it's there for me to wonder about.

Cooper is a native of Tulsa, and I am so grateful he undertook this project...he speaks of his grandfather, a survivor, talking to the youngsters about what happened those horrible days in May. He dedicates the book to his grandfather...it is a loving tribute.

This book can introduce this difficult subject to elementary students...it can serve as a bridge for secondary students into the primary sources, into comparing and contrasting the information in the book, into researching. This is an important book, respectfully created, given to the world so we will never forget.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am ashamed to admit that I did not fully understand Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre until I saw “Lovecraft Country”. It is a powerful story of how fear and hate can cause death and destruction. I teach my students about Facing Injustice in Our World and have drawn comparisons between the Holocaust & events in the United States. While the Holocaust was horrific, many of the plans in the “Final Solution” were inspired by the treatment of blacks in the United States. This dehumanizing of a particular group has led to the persecution of many in history. This book has beautiful illustrations and tells the story in a manner that children can understand. I was able to gain even more of an understanding through the author’s and illustrator’s notes on their personal connection to the race massacre. It was not until 1997 that the State of Oklahoma even did an investigation of the events and the event was not taught in Oklahoma schools until the twenty-first century. The fact that this community existed and flourished is amazing in itself and shows the amazing perseverance of human beings.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully done picture book about the 1921 race massacre in the Greenwood Avenue district of Tulsa OK when a several day event left Black Wall Street burned and many people dead. Obviously there is only so much you can do with a picture book to show this horrendous event, but this is a good start. Having grown up only 50 miles away and 40 years later without having heard about the "riots", obviously it is important that the information continue to be offered and conversations continued.