Published: 2021
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper
Genres: Picture Books, History, Nonfiction, Childrens, African American, Historical, Social Justice, American History, Middle Grade, Race
Audience (Grade Levels): Elementary, Middle, and High School; K-12
Number of Stars: 5-Stars
Goodreads Link: Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
Triggers: Allusions to racism and violence, racial terror, historical trauma
Review By: Evan Waugh
Publisher’s Summary:
Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.
News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future.
Review:
Every so often, there comes a book that is so simple, yet so powerful in its message that it becomes a valuable learning tool for students of all ages. Unspeakable, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper, is undoubtedly that book. Longlisted for the National Book Award, Weatherford’s book is a poignant telling of the Tulsa Race Massacre, in which the Black citizens of the prominent Greenwood District experienced violence and destruction at the hands of a mob of thousands of White citizens. While Unspeakable spares some of the more explicit details of the violence of that day, it is still direct in its message of antiracism and justice for the victims of intolerance, reading almost like an elegy – or even effigy – of the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
From the fairy tale-like phrase of Once upon a time that repeats throughout the book, Unspeakable cements itself as a tale for all ages, one that can be a powerful tool for teaching tolerance at the primary level, a primer on racial injustice at the middle level, and a book to be paired with related texts, like Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, at the secondary level. Weatherford’s Unspeakable is a gift of a book that can be enjoyed, and learned from, by all audiences.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- Social Studies / US History (The Tulsa Race Massacre & Greenwood’s Legacy): This text serves as a crucial, sensitive entry point for teaching the history of “Black Wall Street” and the devastating 1921 racial violence in Tulsa. Educators can use the book to introduce the historical suppression of these events and highlight the community’s remarkable self-reliance and prosperity before the tragedy.
- English Language Arts (Literary Devices & Comparative Analysis): ELA teachers can analyze the author’s intentional use of structural repetition, such as the fairy tale-like motif “Once upon a time,” to juxtapose peaceful community life with tragic realities. For high school students, the book can be used as an elegiac mentor text or paired with classic secondary literature like To Kill a Mockingbird to deepen conversations on systemic injustice.
- Social-Emotional Learning (Antiracism, Justice, & Tolerance): The story acts as a powerful catalyst for teaching tolerance, empathy, and active antiracism across all grade levels. It allows educators to guide students in recognizing the impact of intolerance, navigating difficult historical truths, and understanding how acknowledging past tragedies helps build a more just future.
- “Once Upon a Time in Greenwood” Historical Timeline: Have middle or high school students research the historical figures and businesses of early 20th-century Greenwood. Using the book as a structural guide, students will create a collaborative digital or physical timeline displaying the triumphs of Black-owned businesses, the timeline of the 1921 attack, and the subsequent decades of silence and community resilience.
Diversity & Representation:
Unspeakable provides essential, monumental representation by honoring the thriving, self-sufficient Black community of Greenwood without letting their legacy be defined solely by their destruction. Collaboratively created by two prominent Black creators, the book centers African American history, triumphs, and struggles, ensuring that a crucial, long-suppressed story of racial injustice is told with the utmost historical accuracy, respect, and emotional depth.
Readalikes
- The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (illustrated by Kadir Nelson)
- Tulsa, 1921: YSistory, Myths, and Legacy by Gayle Y. Jackson
- Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey
