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

Black Birds in the Sky: Brandy Colbert

 Aaron K. Alyssa M. Britton M. Caden S. Gabriel T. Miela W. 

Review:

Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert is a complex and unyielding nonfiction book that covers the vastness of early America thoroughly yet concisely. She opens her novel with the unfortunate history of America that is often thrown to the side and often replaced with a brighter, more optimistic, view of the past. The opening chapters cover everything from the purchase of the land that became Oklahoma, to the Trail of Tears, to the formation of Tulsa as a city itself. The book itself is intended for 9th to 12th graders. This age group is well-suited to its content, as it covers much that isn't in their history classes. Through Colbert's ability to narrate the past, she engages her readers in a timeline of events that spans nearly 100 years. She presents the events from the Trail of Tears and the terrible treatment of native people and then ties that into the Emancipation Proclamation. Colbert's ability to link these and the subsequent events throughout America's history further engages the reader, setting the stage for what will follow. The material presented is heavy and riddled with atrocities, yet Colbert presents them accurately. She chooses not to underplay the events, but at the same time, she makes the content approachable and understandable for the age range she is writing to. After her deep dive into so much history, she begins her account of the main body of the story, The Tulsa Massacre.

In 1921, between May 31st and June 1st, in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the most deadly acts of racial violence took place: The Tulsa Race Massacre. However, many Americans are in the dark about the horrible events that took place, and why this might be our first time hearing about them. Lack of education regarding the Tulsa Race Massacre is exactly what Colbert is aiming to correct. In her unflinching account of events that took place in the Greenwood District, dubbed by W.E.B. Dubois as “Black Wall Street,” the author includes first-hand accounts by survivors, connected events of the early Civil Right Movements, and a partial history of Greenwood since the massacre, including the efforts to bring these stories to light and unbury the truth. It is through Colbert’s ability to weave together the harsh facts of the racial movement in America and the individual lives of many people within Greenwood, that we are able to see the way in which the Massacre was not a singular event, but a concerted effort to keep Black history buried. Instead, readers learn that there were multiple stories and factors contributing to what would turn out to be one of the most atrocious examples of racial hatred in the United States, leaving hundreds dead, injured, and left in unidentified graves. Through Colbert’s deft narrative, the reader learns that the massacre itself was caused by far more than the misstep of Dick Rowland, a boy in an elevator who accidentally trod on a young girl’s foot, or the untruthful and inflammatory article published by the Tulsa Tribune afterward; it was the result of hundreds of years of hate and bigotry coming to a head in what was formerly one of the most successful black neighborhoods in America. 

Colbert’s victory is not just that she unearths a long-buried community genocide, but how she allows the young reader to recognize the connections between racist thinking and racist actions. Through her engaging narration of history and presentation of multiple accounts from real people, then and now, Brandy Colbert gives her younger readers a story that covers the complex and dark history of the United States. Without overwhelming the reader, successfully weaves together first-hand accounts that help YA readers understand one of the most heinous acts ignored in existing history books. Though the novel covers difficult subjects, Colbert achieves her goal of informing adolescent readers about the creation of the once-thriving Tulsa; Tulsa after the massacre—including the politics surrounding it—and its century-long aftermath, legal battles, and current commemorative and revitalization projects.

Biography:

As referenced in the foreword to Black Birds in the Sky, Brandy Colbert grew up in the 1980s in Springfield, Missouri, a town she says comprises a mostly white demographic. She mentions being one of the few black students attending her school(s), where although for the most part, she got along with others, she recalls experiencing some passive unintentional racist microaggressions. These experiences, along with the way her history classes were taught—omitting a lot of African-American-centric events beyond the ones that perpetuate the usual dehumanizing topics—laid the foundation for wanting to bring more perspectives to the classroom and young adult literature as a whole. 

As a literature lover, she credits her parents for fueling her passion for reading by consistently taking her to bookstores and libraries. Some of the authors she remembers most fondly are Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Barth DeClements, who she says directly influenced her to start writing at the young age of seven.

After graduating from Glendale High School, she attended Missouri State University, where she received a degree in print journalism and minored in English Literature. Here, she studied the work—specifically crediting Toni Morrison’s Sula—she claims would forever change her approach to reading and writing. She also mentions Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer, as leaving a lasting impression on her.

Prior to publishing her first novel, Pointe, which was released to positive reviews, she worked as an editor for various magazines. Since releasing seven novels, not limited to YA literature, but also extending to middle-grade books and short-story collections, Colbert has garnered much acclaim from critics and readers alike, notably winning the ALA’s 2018 Stonewall Book Award for her second novel, Little & Lion.

Colbert now works as a freelance copy editor, while teaching at Hamline University in Missouri, and resides in Los Angeles.

Resources:

The Massacre of Black Wall Street: A Graphic Novel
The graphic novel is an interesting and cool way to engage students in a topic that may be hard to embrace at first. This also ties to the zine project explained in the instructional section. 

Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Massacre.
A way to engage with the actual experiences of survivors of the massacre, voices that were long-buried.

1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission.
Dedicated to the last 100 years of Tulsa, are articles here about what happened but also opportunities to donate to the ongoing rebuilding and engage with current efforts to keep the rich history of Tulsa history alive.

Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Testify (YouTube)
News articles about what happened in the 1920s are interesting and informative, but listening to someone who was actually can be even more profound. Hear perspectives of what happened in Tulsa from the people themselves. This adds a critical layer to understanding Greenwood's disturbing history.

Photographing the Tulsa Massacre.
The horrors of what happened in the 1920s could never be imagined by words alone; one of the closest things to being present is viewing photographs. With caution, students can see some of the true horrors that took place and more viscerally understand what people were capable of because of racial hatred.

Historic Films
Films covering Tulsa's history may enrich classroom learning and enrich and/or extend lessons surrounding this historical event.

Mapping Greenwood 

Maps aid in understanding history, and here, the geographical context and extent of what happened in Tulsa. Take a virtual tour of Greenwood that focuses on the events of the massacre as well as the commemorative sites.

Black Wall Street: Then and Now

It is one thing to read about the changes that have transpired in Greenwood, and another to see them. This site presents the Black Wall Street of Tulsa then and now, another aid in understanding the enormity of this racist tragedy and its far-reaching domino effects.

Lesson Activity:

California Common Core Standards:

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12

Grade Range: 9–10

Content Area: English Language Arts

Category: Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (6–12)

1. WHST.9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes:

a. Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. 

b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.

Instructional Plan: 

Creatively Embracing Difficult Subject Matter: The Tulsa Race Massacre and Surrounding History.

Preview:

This is a difficult and sensitive topic, as is the complementary history leading up to it (included in the book). The gentle beginning of the first activity (warm-up) is meant to create student-generated interest in the book, though there is no intention here to soften the content itself. The third and fourth activities (main activity) are designed to encourage a creative approach to expressing thoughts and feelings while learning facts about this long-buried event.

Warm-Up:

• 30-minute opening activity/warmup: Break into small groups (3-4) to discuss the Tulsa Race Massacre (no opening discussion necessary). 
• One person can be the "scribe" for the group answers to questions/items below can be submitted via Canvas or other LMS.
• Instructions for the groups: Without searching, what do you know/what have you heard about the Tulsa Race Massacre? When did it/might it have occurred? 
• Take 5-10 minutes to search online individually or as a group. Search suggestions can be given but are not necessary: 100-year anniversary; Tulsa Massacre in the courts, etc., survivor accounts, etc.
• List- 3-5 things your group learned after conducting a simple search. 
• Did you fine any other names for this historical event? If so, jot them down and if time, discuss the differences in terms—does not have to be researched yet. 
• Introduce Black Birds in the Sky: Book will be read over two weeks, with class time used for teacher-led discussions (and the following two activities).

Main Activity:

• Depending on the time available, introduce (for the next class) and/or begin this activity: Create a Group Crossword puzzle using a teacher-approved crossword-puzzle generator with student-created clues based on the chapter assigned to each group and important terms found within. (There are seven chapters). The “Source List and Image Credits,” and “Index” may be helpful.
• Groups will work collaboratively on this project during class time but may choose to work outside of class as well. Individual crossword puzzles may also be created. The teacher may determine the number of terms students must include—but students choose the specific, chapter-driven terms themselves.
• The Table of Contents lists the chapters and the “Source List and Image Credits” at the back of the book is organized by chapter, and lists sources and links students may choose to use for relevant puzzle words and clues.
•  Suggested website to generate puzzles 
  

•  Create zines. If done as a group, create at least as many as there are group members. These may also be created individually. Consider, but don’t require groups to worry about ideas overlapping. Multiple perspectives of a similar theme are fine. Encourage individual expression; one does not have to feel like an accomplished artist to participate. Zines may focus on a particular event, business, street, historical event prior to the massacre, etc. Zines may also be a creative interpretation of an event that may not be obvious to the reader (creative freedom is important with this activity). 
• Class presentations (zines)—in which students may come to the front of the class or remain in their seats. Zines may also be displayed around the room for a period of time for perusing by other students.
• Zine link (other ideas) for teachers
• Zine link 2
  
  

Bibliography:

“Brandy Colbert (She/Her).” The Author Village, 24 Jan. 2022, https://theauthorvillage.com/presenters/brandy-colbert/.

Brandy Colbert, https://www.brandycolbert.com/.

Colbert, Brandy. Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Balzer & Bray/Harperteen, 2021.