Lena and the Burning of Greenwood: a Tulsa Race Massacre Survival Story, by Nikki Shannon Smith, illustrated by Markia Jenai & Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

 

As citizens aware that American history courses (from elementary grades through graduate school) sometimes miss the facts and true impact of past realities, we welcome literature that presents lost history, as painful as that history may be. Whether the exclusions are intentional or unknowing, our futures are more richly informed when we hear stories that widen our knowledge and perspectives.  

 

These two books for young people shed light on events of May and June 1921, when the prosperous African American community of Greenwood, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was burned to the ground by White rioters following the alleged incident of a Black man accosting a White woman. Over one thousand homes and businesses were burned out, more than three hundred people killed, and many more were injured or rendered homeless in what is now identified as the Tulsa Race Massacre. Why have these stories not been widely told previously? Most probably the memories were too painful for those involved at the time to share; plus, the larger community of Tulsa did not want its image sullied by such a horrible event. No investigation took place for seventy-five years; the one hundredth anniversary of the event, in 2021, finally brought the event into public focus.

 

The African American community in Greenwood developed over a number of years when, after the abolition of slavery, Black Americans moved west, along with native tribes which had themselves been relocated. African American businesses thrived, and by the early 20^thcentury, the Greenwood District was known as the “Black Wall Street”—providing a secure, thriving place to be. Racial tensions with the predominant White Tulsa community existed, however, and became inflamed on May 31, 1921, with an accusation against Dick Rowland, suspected of assaulting a White woman. Though Rowland was found innocent in September 1921, the tragedy of the Tulsa Race Massacre had already taken place.

 

Lena and the Burning of Greenwood: a Tulsa Race Massacre Survival Story, told by Nikki Shannon Smith and illustrated by Markia Jenai, places 12-year-old Lena at the center of a fictional narrative as she describes her family’s sudden awareness of violence in its beloved Greenwood community. She holds tight to her father’s belief in the strength of their community even as it is challenged when they flee the death and destruction brought to their streets and homes by White rioters. Lena’s family is able to return to the site of their former community, determined to rebuild it alongside their surviving neighbors. This difficult story is beautifully crafted, capturing the emotional complexity of the happenings as well as the bonds among family members and neighbors. It is a necessary look at our history. Ages 8-12. Stone Arch Books/Capstone, 2022.

 

In Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, the phrase “Once upon a time in Greenwood…” introduces numerous pages of this deeply moving picture book history of the African American community that grew in Tulsa beginning in the mid-1800s. Readers learn of the resourcefulness, creativity and hard work that built Greenwood and supported a thriving community. When a standoff between Tulsa’s White and Black citizens gets out of hand, an entire established neighborhood is destroyed by White arsonists, looters and murderers. It may seem hard to believe that this tragedy can be presented in a book for young people, but author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper (both of whom have personal connections with Greenwood history) have crafted an outstanding book—immeasurably somber and yet hopeful. End notes by both creators of this award-winning book add to the history, firmly demonstrating that much of the history we read is expressly personal to those who lived it, sending ripples of understanding into society today. Ages 8 to adult. Carolrhoda Books / Lerner Publishing Group, 2021.

 

A discussion guide is presented here: Unspeakable. Readers can also visit https://www.nps.gov/places/oklahoma-john-hope-franklin-reconciliation-park.htm

Kent State, by Deborah Wiles

 

In early May 1970, four unarmed college students were killed and nine other people wounded at Kent State University in Ohio. The event shocked the nation; it was the first time students were killed in an anti-war gathering. Protesting the war in Vietnam had been going on for years; it escalated at numerous college campuses and public venues in late April 1970, when South Vietnamese forces and U. S. troops invaded Cambodia in an effort to curb planning and recruitment by the North Vietnamese military. In her book Kent State, author Deborah Wiles examines documentary evidence (oral histories, personal interviews with witnesses, newspapers and other written accounts archived in Kent State University special collections and in the Kent Public Library and Historical Society) to compose her novel about the May events at Kent State. In a remarkable narrative, Wiles presents accounts of the happenings from variety of perspectives—from students (protesters, bystanders, the Black United Students), from townspeople, from the National Guardsmen who were called in, from the local police and more. To convey the chaos and concerns as events unfolded over several days, voices from each perspective are written in different fonts—a sort of prose poem enabling readers to grasp the disparate emotions and conflicting opinions. 

 

One might call Kent State a “docu-novel”—a fictional story based on authentic sources, intended to convey the true import of happenings. Encyclopedia Britannica says: “history [is a] discipline that studies the chronological record of events, usually attempting, on the basis of a critical examination of source materials, to explain events.” Using primary sources, author Wiles draws readers into the immediacy of the occasion, forcing an awareness of multiple points of view in the context of our U. S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Those several days on the Kent campus and town seem nothing short of terrifying when long-held beliefs feel suspended. The narrative in Kent State does not draw conclusions about whether calling out the National Guard was warranted by the student protests. The intent of the demonstrations was peaceful protest; the origin of some disruptive activities and a fire on campus was never fully determined. What does our nation’s dedication to “the freedom of speech, or of the press; the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” mean at a particular time and place? What does it mean when innocent people are harmed? Who are the other people affected and in what way? What role does media play? Whose role is it to protect First Amendment rights, or to exert control? These questions remain pointedly relevant in today’s world. Freedom of speech and of expression are cornerstones of a vital democracy. What steps can we take to protect them in challenging times? Ages 12-18. Scholastic Press, 2020.

 

Readers can visit the May 4 Visitors Center online: https://www.kent.edu/may4visitorscenter/online-exhibits . 

To read and think further about documentary novels, visit the author’s website: https://deborahwiles.com .