This well researched studies on the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma which is known as the Black Wall Street in the early 1900's as it becomes the most prosperous Black community in the country. There is a confrontation between the races over a Black man they fear is going to be lynched. Ultimately, Greenwood is burnt to the ground and many are killed. The book covers the event itself up to the present which is interesting as former residents and their families try to keep a connection with their rich heritage. ( )

“One hundred years in the neighborhood that refused to be erased,” the cover reads. But the story of Greenwood begins before the Tulsa Massacre, before the white citizens descended upon their innocent neighbors to destroy their homes, their businesses, and take their very lives. The story starts with a dream of a better life, with Southern blacks coming to Oklahoma and working hard and building a vibrant community.

For all the Greenwood community had achieved, and lost, and built again, they still face systemic racism, political powerlessness, a corrupt justice system. The fight is ongoing.

Greenwood’s story is America’s story. A story of the limits of the American Dream, based on color. A story of the struggle for rights guaranteed under the Constitution. A story of strength and endurance and persistence.

My Civics teacher stood in front of our class in spring of 1967 and proclaimed, “There is only one race–the human race.” And yet that summer we watched armed tanks going down Woodward Avenue and helicopters fly overhead, on their way to Detroit.

There is the idea. And there is the reality.

A few years ago I read Scott Ellison’s The Ground Breaking: The Tulsa Race Massacre and an American City’s Search for Justice. So, Built From the Fire caught my interest. Luckerson covers the massacre in one chapter, the bulk of the book dedicated to the history of Greenwood before and after. He takes us into the community through the people who built Greenwood and their descendants who stayed to rebuild it. Hearing their stories makes this a particularly emotional read. We respect these people, we care for them, we cry with them.

I became so incensed by what I read. Of course, by the hateful violence of the massacre, but also by the intrenched white supremacy that endures to this day.

I remember hearing about ‘urban renewal,’ but as a girl I didn’t realize it was better understood as “Negro removal,” as James Baldwin is quoted as saying. Here in Detroit they are removing the highway that destroyed black neighborhoods in the 1960s. The highway barrier may be removed, but it can’t undo damage inflicted decades ago.

The Tulsa Massacre was hidden history for decades. Those who survived, and those who heard the stories from survivors, share their stories in these pages. I was extremely moved. And angered. And saddened.

Luckerson is a masterful writer.

I received a free book from the publisher through NetgGalley. ( )