Fact Friday: Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford

Image: Lerner Publishing Group

Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. 32 p. Lerner Publishing Group, February, 2021. 9781541581203. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. This year (May 31 - June 1) marks the hundredth anniversary of a sad, significant and shameful event in American history that, before last summer, many were probably unaware. Ms. Weatherford begins her blank verse with the words, "Once upon a time" and she uses the repetition effectively to instruct readers about the thriving Black community neighborhood in segregated Tulsa, Oklahoma one hundred years ago. Greenwood, also known as the "Black Wall Street" was home to two movie theaters, several Black newspapers and many Black professionals such as doctors and lawyers. 

While this community enjoyed their prosperity, many in the white community resented it. When a white female elevator operator accused a young Black man of assault, it did not take long for racial tension to erupt in violence. A white mob headed to the jail with the intention of lynching the suspect, but was confronted by Black men intending to protect him. The confrontation resulted in the deaths of two Black men and ten whites. The next day, mobs of white men invaded Greenwood intent on burning the neighborhood to the ground. Three hundred Black residents were killed and more than eight thousand were left homeless as police stood by and did nothing to protect them. The incident was labeled a "race riot" and no investigation was done until seventy-five years later.

Floyd Cooper's erasure illustrations celebrate the thriving community, then somberly stun. Readers learn in the illustrator's note in the back matter that Mr. Cooper has a personal connection to Tulsa - his grandfather escaped the massacre. Ms. Weatherford provides more information in her author's note. Back matter includes black and white photos from the time. 

Unspeakable is a must-read, must-discuss book for anyone, adult or young adult wishing to deeply understand American history warts and all. It's a book that will prompt uncomfortable questions and necessary, but uncomfortable conversations in classrooms and around dinner tables. Lerner has provided a helpful twelve-page teaching guide on their website.

ETA: I had the opportunity to tune into a webinar hosted by Frugal Book Store featuring an interview of and reading by the author.