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The Burning
The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 | Tim Madigan
14 posts | 12 read | 23 to read
On the morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob numbering in the thousands marched across the railroad tracks dividing black from white in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and obliterated a black community then celebrated as one of America's most prosperous. 34 square blocks of Tulsa's Greenwood community, known then as the Negro Wall Street of America, were reduced to smoldering rubble. And now, 80 years later, the death toll of what is known as the Tulsa Race Riot is more difficult to pinpoint. Conservative estimates put the number of dead at about 100 (75% of the victims are believed to have been black), but the actual number of casualties could be triple that. The Tulsa Race Riot Commission, formed two years ago to determine exactly what happened, has recommended that restitution to the historic Greenwood Community would be good public policy and do much to repair the emotional as well as physical scars of this most terrible incident in our shared past. With chilling details, humanity, and the narrative thrust of compelling fiction, The Burning will recreate the town of Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explore the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its black residents and neighboring Tulsa's white population, narrate events leading up to and including Greenwood's annihilation, and document the subsequent silence that surrounded the tragedy.
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S3V3N
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#SundayFunday
1. Black Wall Street
2. My family moved to Ohio as a result of the destruction of Black Wall Street. My last living relative from that era died last year and that is when I learned of the information.
3. Tagged

Megabooks I‘m so sorry your family was affected by that. 💜 2y
S3V3N @Megabooks Thanks 😊 2y
BookmarkTavern That is an intense connection. I‘m sorry for the loss of your family member. Thank you for sharing this. ❤️ 2y
S3V3N @ozma.of.oz Thanks 😊 2y
20 likes4 comments
review
Amie
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Pickpick

Difficult topic to read about, but an important event to know about.

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Daisey
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Pickpick

I listened to both Tim Madigan‘s original book and the version for young readers adapted by Hilary Beard. This was an event in U.S. history I had heard of but knew nothing about. The original includes more details about the violence and harsher language. Beard‘s adaptation leaves out mentions of prostitution and some violent gore, but it still clearly describes the horror of the event. She also includes additional African American perspective.

Daisey #YRE #ALC received through #Librofm Educator program. Audio duration of YRE is 7 hours 15 minutes & duration of original is 10 hours 5 minutes. Both editions are narrated by Bill Andrew Quinn. (edited) 3y
megnews Had not even heard about this. Thanks!! 3y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Daisey
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I finished listening to this adaptation for young readers today, and I was either sad or angry throughout most of it. I felt it left some of my questions unanswered, and I‘m also curious about differences between it and the original after reading some reviews of each. So, I‘m downloading the original from the library and waiting to officially review until I listen to both.

#nonfiction #YRE #audiobook #Librofm Educator #ALC

Suet624 Good idea 3y
52 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Chittavrtti
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Hilary Beard adapted this important history for children. If you have read the adult version it‘s worth knowing that the adapted version for children includes narratives not in the original.
ETA: This book in either edition should be at a minimum required High school reading. I have already located a 8 -12 year old version of the Greenwood Massacre.

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vivastory
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In Tulsa in late May of '21 a young African American man was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman. The following day he was arrested & a lynch mob gathered outside the courthouse where he was detained. This is the story of one of the most violent racially motivated incidents in American history, when a community tried to stand up for themselves even with the odds against them. The conspiracy of silence surrounding this event is staggering.

vivastory I will say that Madigan's style bugged me at times. I was hoping for a more documentary approach to the events, but he reconstructs the dialogue. If David Grann or Jeff Guinn ever tackled this, I'd def read their take on it. 3y
Megabooks David Grann and Jeff Guinn generally do such a fantastic job. I would also read either if they eventually wrote about this. I really appreciate your review of this book. 👍🏻 Although I think I‘m still on the fence about it. (edited) 3y
vivastory @Megabooks I just did a bit of research & this one, a new one, seems like it might be better. Madigan's def deserves credit as it was one of the first pub by a major publishing house on the event but I think that this one will be more along the lines of what I was hoping for: Scott Ellsworth's “The Ground Breaking“ 3y
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks So sad and awful!!! 😓😡 3y
vivastory @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks It was a difficult, & infuriating, read. Yet, def an important one 3y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @vivastory I‘m not sure I could read it even though I should… 3y
vivastory @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Jacqueline Woodson's novel Red at the Bone also addresses the event. It might be a good way to learn about it. Here's a reading list from Oprah of books that deal with it:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/art-culture/oprah-shares-reading-list-o...
3y
87 likes1 stack add8 comments
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vivastory
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I read half of this today. I knew vague details about what happened in Tulsa in '21, but I felt like it was important to read an account of one of the worst racially motivated massacres in US history. Despite living only 4 hours away from Tulsa I don't recall this being taught in school. At all. Which is beyond bizarre..

Karkar I also lived about 4 hours from Tulsa and did not hear about this until a year or so ago. ☹️ 3y
vivastory @Karkar Apparently it wasn't even taught in Tulsa public schools until '02 3y
sarahbarnes Agreed. I didn‘t learn about this event until I was an adult. Unacceptable. 3y
LeslieO The first time I heard of this was last year. It was mentioned in the Frank Lloyd Wright bio Plagued by Fire. 3y
vivastory @LeslieO @sarahbarnes I haven't watched it, but it's my understanding that this event is referenced in the opening for the recent Watchmen adaptation on HBO. I know a lot of people first heard about it from that show... 3y
71 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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OrangeMooseReads
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Last night ‘The History Channel‘ premiered a documentary on the Tulsa Massacre, it occurred 100 years ago today and tomorrow. The destruction of one of if not the most prosperous black community in the US is heartbreaking, angering, and shocking. The further fact that for 80-90 years it was covered up and ignored.
Much of the documentary seemed to be based on this book. Recently they have excavated the mass grave(s) of the black victims.

OrangeMooseReads I thought some people might be interested in this. 3y
DivineDiana Thank you. I plan to watch. 3y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Granted I'm Canadian, but I never knew this happened until I saw The Watchman remake on HBO. I will definitely be stacking this book. 3y
OrangeMooseReads @DivineDiana you‘re welcome 3y
OrangeMooseReads @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego I didn‘t know about it until about 4 years ago when I found this book. 3y
42 likes3 stack adds5 comments
review
Nitpickyabouttrains
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History about the riots and murders in Tulsa.

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OrangeMooseReads
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This should be part of history taught in school. I‘ve owned this book for a few years and until I purchased it I had no idea this event occurred. Never heard of it even in college. I‘m sure until these recent weeks A LOT of people hadn‘t heard of this event.
I wish this had been written by a POC.
I wish that the author had not used the term “negro(es)” when referring to the black residents of Tulsa/Greenwood.
I would recommend reading this.

mhillis You might like to check out 4y
OrangeMooseReads @mhillis stacked it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. 4y
KatieDid927 I was thinking about the use of the term “negroes” and it was a super common term that wasn‘t considered offensive until the late ‘60s/Civil Rights Movement. Prior to that it was used as we use Black today, and Black people referred to themselves that way. It didn‘t have the same connotations as the other n-word. MLK even used the term in his famous speech. (I was curious of the etymology so looked it up.) (edited) 4y
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KatieDid927 Not saying it‘s right to use now, it‘s not, it‘s just a word that‘s very commonly used by civil rights activists up until the late ‘60s. James Baldwin used the term a lot. It‘s interesting how language evolves. 4y
OrangeMooseReads @KatieDid927 it was commonly used and I still hear it occasionally. This book was written in the last 15 years I believe and by a white man. He didn‘t use it just in quotes that was his reference word for the black citizens. It seems like an odd choice of word since in the last decades it has become more common to use black. I could be wrong and just using my 2020 sick of racism brain as well. It could also be that he uses it A LOT. (edited) 4y
KatieDid927 @OrangeMooseReads Oh, eesh, yeah. No that‘s a little sus to me. I just was coming from a place of having to inoculate myself to the word, basically, when reading earlier texts. Or watching earlier speeches from MLK, Malcom X or James Baldwin. If he wrote it that recently it does seem like an odd choice, although maybe he was coming from the fact that they referred to themselves as that at during the time these events happened? I get you though. (edited) 4y
KatieDid927 Basically I learned fairly recently that this wasn‘t really considered an offensive term for a long time which surprised me, but is also interesting. 4y
OrangeMooseReads @KatieDid927 It could be that that is how the people he spoke with referred to themselves. It was used every other sentence it seems and it got to be a lot. I appreciate this conversation that we have had. 4y
KatieDid927 @OrangeMooseReads Yeesh, that does sound like a lot. And I also don‘t want you to think I was trying to discount your feelings about his use of the word, your reaction to it was completely valid. I just started to really think about the word specifically when watching I Am Not Your Negro and it made me think of your post. 🖤 (edited) 4y
OrangeMooseReads @KatieDid927 oh no I didn‘t think that, sorry if I may have come across that way. 4y
KatieDid927 @OrangeMooseReads You def didn‘t just wanted to clarify MY intentions. 😌 4y
OrangeMooseReads @KatieDid927 👍🏼 you are good. 4y
50 likes2 stack adds12 comments
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OrangeMooseReads
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This has been on my shelf for a couple years.
This event has been mentioned several times in the last weeks. I need to educate myself.
#blacklivesmatter #bebetter #readingtrumpsignorance #knowthehistory

review
Pedrocamacho
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Pickpick

This book is about the Tulsa Greenwood (Black Wall Street) Massacre of 1921, where hundreds of African-Americans were murdered by white mobs (who also looted and burned their homes). This is an event that, without question, should be more widely known and discussed. It is a tough read, but a necessary one.

Reggie Oof. Stacked. 4y
Pedrocamacho @Reggie FYI, the Tulsa Massacre is the driving force behind the Watchmen series that just finished airing on HBO. In fact, the first ten minutes of the first episode is a depiction of the massacre. Very chilling. 4y
9 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Christine
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Not exactly cozy holiday reading, but I‘m still excited about my HBO-free-trial-inspired library haul, since Watchmen is some of the best television I‘ve seen in a while.

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OrangeMooseReads
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These are the rest of my #blackauthors books for #BlackHistoryMonth

alisiakae Great stack! I am reading Homegoing now, and plan on re-reading a Maya Angelou book next! 6y
OrangeMooseReads @4thhouseontheleft I‘ve heard ‘Homegoing‘ is good. I love Maya Angelou. 6y
SilversReviews Now stack!! 6y
alisiakae I love Maya Angelou so much I named my daughter after her! 😃 6y
55 likes1 stack add4 comments