Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Book Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Written as a “Once upon a time. . .” story in a picture book format, Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre centers on the history of the thriving Black community of Greenwood before the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.
Children learn about the Black businesses, libraries, schools (“where some say Black children got a better education than whites”), bus system, auto shop, hospital, newspapers, movie theaters, hotel, and post office. Floyd Cooper’s stunning illustrations bring Black Wall Street to life. Continue reading.
Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford
on February 2, 2021
Genres: African American, Racism
Pages: 32
Reading Level: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
ISBN: 9781728424644
Review Source: Zinn Education Project
Also by this author: Schomburg: the Man Who Built a Library, Voice of Freedom
Publisher Synopsis: "A must-have" — Booklist (starred review)
Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's 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. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future.
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