It was on May 31 and June 1, 1921 that more than 35 square blocks of Black Wall Street or the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States — at that time the wealthiest Black community in US, was destroyed on the ground and from private aircraft by mobs of White residents, many of whom were deputized and given weapons by city officials. The target were the Black residents whose homes, businesses, churches, schools and municipal buildings in the district were attacked with guns, explosives or were intentionally set on fires or arson or damaged with incendiary devices dropped from airplanes.

It is also known as the Black Wall Street Massacre, the Greenwood Massacre, the Tulsa Massacre, the Tulsa pogrom or the Tulsa race riot. Ahead of its centennial this Monday, American talk show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey shared a reading list to educate fans about the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Through her Book Club which highlights the books chosen by Oprah in regular interactive sessions with fans, the television producer and actor shared, “This Monday marks the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, considered among the worst incidents of racial violence in American history (sic)”.

She added, “On May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents destroyed Tulsa’s famed “Black Wall Street,” killing Black residents and burning their homes and businesses (sic).” Crediting the curated reading list to an independent bookstore owned by the Tulsa Literary Coalition, Oprah elaborated, “Just steps from Greenwood, in Tulsa’s historic Arts District, is Magic City Books (@magiccitybooks). A non-profit, independent bookstore, they’ve compiled a reading list about the massacre to commemorate the centennial, including Tulsa native Scott Ellsworth’s recently released “The Ground Breaking” (sic).”

The list apparently includes books for all ages to learn more and profits from the store reportedly helps fund their programs which help the local economy and contribute to the cultural life of Tulsans. Check out the Tulsa 1921 Reading List here:

1. Black Wall Street 100: An American City Grapples With Its Historical Racial Trauma by Hannibal B. Johnson

2. The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice by Scott Ellsworth

3. Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 by Scott Ellsworth

4. Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District by Hannibal B. Johnson

5. Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a Massacre by Randy Krehbiel

6. The Nation Must Awake: My Witness to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Mary E. Jones Parrish

7. Magic City by Jewell Parker Rhodes

8. Fire in Beulah by Rilla Askew

9. Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

10. Across the Tracks: Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street by Alverne Ball and Stacey Robinson

11. The Victory of Greenwood by Carlos A. Moreno

12. Opal’s Greenwood Oasis by Quraysh Ali Lansana, Najah-Amatullah Hylton, et al.

13. Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford

14. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

15. The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Tim Madigan

16. The Burning (Young Readers Edition): Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 by Tim Madigan (Author) Hilary Beard (Adapted by)

17. Riot and Remembrance: America’s Worst Race Riot and Its Legacy by James S. Hirsch

18. Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District by Hannibal B. Johnson

19. Aamila’s Adventure: Remembering the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Tara Henderson

20. Riot on Greenwood: The Total Destruction of Black Wall Street by Eddie Faye Gates

21. Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Riot of 1921: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation by Alfred L. Brophy

22. Tulsa Burning: Friends Show Their True Colors in Times of Trouble by Anna Myers

23. Hidden History of Tulsa by Steve Gerkin

24. If We Must Die: A Novel of Tulsa’s 1921 Greewood Riot by Pat Carr

25. Holocaust in the Homeland: Black Wall Street’s Last Days by Corinda Pitts Marsh

26. Watchmen (2019 Edition) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

27. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

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