#floyd cooper

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Carolrhoda Books has released Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Floyd Cooper. The first of its kind, this picture book has already received six starred reviews and is a testament to the people who perished and those who survived one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history.

In the early 1900s, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to a thriving African American community. But all that would change on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when a mob of armed white Tulsans attacked Greenwood. They looted homes and businesses and burned them to the ground as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed. More than eight thousand were left homeless. News of the Tulsa Race Massacre was largely suppressed and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. Cooper’s powerful illustrations and Weatherford’s poetic narrative offer a sensitive and compelling introduction to this devastating piece of American history.

Unspeakable will help young readers understand the events of the past so we can move toward a better future for all.