Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Carole Boston Weatherford’s website:

https://cbweatherford.com/

Reading Rockets presentation of Carole Boston Weatherford (15:24):

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=OWYHvV79Z7o&ab_channel=ReadingRockets

Illustrator Information:

Floyd Cooper’s website:

http://www.floydcooper.com/

Floyd Cooper speaks with PNC Guam (:30):

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=yjz9ivHTv44&ab_channel=PNCGUAM

Activities & Resources:

Activities:

Discussion Guides and Learning Resources

Lerner Books reading guide for teachers

https://lernerbooks.com/downloads/214/click

Educator Discussion Guide from the Anti-Defamation League:

https://www.adl.org/media/16204/download

Parent/Family Discussion Guide from the Anti-Defamation League:

https://www.adl.org/media/16205/download

Historic Greenwood Curriculum Resource

https://www.jhfcenter.org/curriculum

Tulsa Riot

Learn more about the Tulsa race massacre of 1921

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Tulsa-race-massacre-of-1921/632653

Black Wall Street for Kids (9:22):

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=qgxjnX6Tsz8&t=43s&ab_channel=SeedofMelaninKids%21

Tulsa Riot Facts for Kids:

https://kids.kiddle.co/Tulsa_race_riot

Black Wall Street

Britannica Black Wall Street:

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Black-Wall-Street/632880#:~:text=Black%20Wall%20Street%20was%20an,during%20the%20Tulsa%20race%20massacre

Greenwood Cultural Center Black Wall Street Pictorial Gallery:

https://www.greenwoodculturalcenter.org/pictoral-gallery

Greenwood, Tulsa facts for kids:

https://kids.kiddle.co/Greenwood,_Tulsa

What the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/24/us/tulsa-race-massacre.html

MakerSpace Activities:

Create a diorama box of the businesses on Black Wall Street (3:01):

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=-Loj-YoSbfw&ab_channel=VirtualClub

Create a Reconciliation Memorial for someone you learned about from the Tulsa Race Massacre based on your reading and/or research:

https://www.jhfcenter.org/reconciliation-park

Create a timeline of the events of the making and destruction of the Black Wall Street in Greenwood:

http://interactives.readwritethink.org/timeline

Write a newspaper article about the events of the Tulsa Race Massacre:

https://newspaper.jaguarpaw.co.uk/

Create a commemorative stamp for the Tulsa Race Massacre using Google Draw, Canva or paper and pencil.

Discussion Questions:

What do you think of the book’s title? How does it relate to the book’s contents? What other title might you choose?

What is a massacre? Why would this event be considered a massacre?

Why did the formerly enslaved people settle in Greenwood?

Why were the black and white communities divided by train tracks?

What is segregation? How did segregation affect everyday life in Tulsa?

Why would the government make tests so hard for blacks to register to vote?

What does Black Wall Street mean? What is Wall Street?

Why was there a separate school system for blacks and whites?

How might the possibility of black children getting a better education than whites be perceived?

Who is Booker T. Washington and how is he connected to Greenwood and the Black Wall Street?

Why would so many prominent African American doctors, lawyers, and businessmen settle in Greenwood rather than in larger cities?

Explain why some people were not pleased with what was happening in Greenwood.

Was the alleged assault the reason for the looting, burning, and attacking of Black Greenwood Community? If not, then what would spark such drastic actions against the Black Greenwood Community?

Why did the police not intervene while the attacks were occurring?

Why would it take 75 years for lawmakers to launch an investigation to uncover the truth as to what occurred in the Greenwood Community?

Why would the police and city officials plot with the White mob to destroy the nation’s wealthiest Black community?

Why should we reject hatred and violence and instead choose hope?

Which image had the most impact on you? Why?

Do you think this type of event could happen in today’s society? Explain.

Discuss some of the things you learned about this historical event from reading this book.

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the Reader’s Theater for Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race massacre.

Watch the book trailer for Unspeakable: the Tulsa Race massacre embedded at the bottom of the page.

Read Alikes:

Own Voices:

Craft, Jerry. New Kid. Perfect for fans Raina Telgemeir and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. (NoveList Plus)

Yang, Kelly. Front Desk. After emigrating from China, ten-year-old Mia Tang’s parents take a top job managing a rundown motel, despite the nasty owner, Mr. Yao, who exploits them, while she works the front desk and tries to copy with fitting in at her school. (NoveList Plus)

Race Relations:

Boyce, Jo Ann Allen. This promise of change: one girl’s story in the fight for school equality. In 1956, one year before federal troops escorted the Little Rock 9 into Central High School, fourteen year old Jo Ann Allen was one of twelve African American students who broke the color barrier and integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee. At first things went smoothly for the Clinton 12, but then outside agitators interfered, pitting the townspeople against one another. (NoveList Plus)

Hearth, Amy Hill. Streetcar to justice: How Elizabeth Jennings won the right to ride in New York. A portrait of a lesser-known hero in the history of desegregation traces the mid-19th-century activist case of young Elizabeth Jennings, who successfully won a major lawsuit against a New York City streetcar company with the support of Frederick Douglass after being refused a seat on a segregated streetcar. (NoveList Plus)

Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City sit-ins. Presents the life of Clara Luper, an African-American teacher and local civil rights leader who taught her students about equality and led them in lunch counter sit-in demonstrations in Oklahoma City in 1958. (NoveList Plus)

Reviews:

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. Carolrhoda, an imprint of Lerner Publications, 2021.

Booklist

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre.

By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illus. by Floyd Cooper.

Feb. 2021. 32p. Carolrhoda, $17.99 (9781541581203). Grades 3-6. 976.6.

REVIEW. First published December 15, 2020 (Booklist).

“Once upon a time in Tulsa, there was a community called Greenwood.” This Black community was rich in money, love, and culture. So much so that white people searched for any reason possible to tear that community down. This tragic, painful event in American history calls into question notions

of freedom, equality, and opportunity ostensibly promised to Black Americans following the Emancipation Proclamation, and it’s particularly pertinent in the current sociopolitical landscape,

which is throwing a spotlight on the persistence of systemic racism in America. Weatherford draws on the folktale flourish “once upon a time” to set a scene that feels far away and removed from our present reality, while Cooper’s soft strokes of muted greens and sepia browns capture the event in

a haze of both joy and mourning for the beauty of what Black Tulsa was. Unlike many historical picture books, Weatherford’s doesn’t shy away from naming white people as the perpetrator. This will cause obvious discomfort for some but will be the catalyst for conversation and change if read with eyes toward justice. Included are author’s and illustrator’s notes that explore their personal connections to the Tulsa Race Massacre in addition to photographs of Greenwood at the time of the massacre and today. Ideal for classroom libraries and a deeper study of American history, this title is a must-have for those seeking the painful and complete truth. —Melanie Marshall

Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/

School Library Journal starred (February 1, 2021)

Gr 3-6-One hundred years ago, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, OK, was a prosperous Black community. Restaurants, beauty salons, movie theaters, and dozens of other businesses thrived along "Black Wall Street." Cooper's sepia-tone illustrations depict the bustle of everyday life as people hurried to shops or churches and gathered with friends. A stark spread signals the tragic turning point that resulted in the decimation of Greenwood's Black community. A 17-year-old white woman elevator operator accused a 19-year-old Black man of assault. Incited by calls to action printed in white-owned newspapers, thousands of armed white men headed to the jail, where they met 30 armed Black men determined to stop a lynching. The confrontation resulted in the deaths of two Black men and 10 white men. Angry that they didn't get to the jailed Black man, a white mob invaded the town, looted, and committed arson. The police did nothing to protect the Black citizens. Up to 300 Greenwood residents were killed, and more than 8,000 were left homeless. Seventy-five years passed before an official investigation occurred. Cooper's illustrations are infused with a personal connection. Not only did he grow up in Tulsa, but Cooper also heard his grandpa's stories of surviving the events. The powerful photo spread on the endpapers documents the destruction and smoking ruins. Cooper's final illustrations of Tulsa's Reconciliation Park offer a bit of hope. Weatherford's author's note provides additional background. VERDICT This moving account sheds light on shameful events long suppressed or ignored. All collections should consider this title's value in providing historical context to current conversations about racism and America's ongoing legacy of white supremacy.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato © Copyright 2021. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2021