Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

This work of nonfiction situates the violence that took place in Tulsa in 1921 amid a larger national setting of racial violence and discrimination. The book looks at the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, not just as a community’s response to an elevator incident, but rather as a coordinated plan of attack against the Greenwood community. The book explores larger social causes that contributed to the massacre as well as social and political forces that worked against the district’s subsequent rebuilding. This book is an honest, nuanced read that would be good for students who are looking to go beyond the surface of what happened in Tulsa in 1921 and connect it to national events across the country.