Ike Howard

I didn't know much about the Tulsa massacre. I read this book because it was told by one of two living survivors of the horrible event. Viola Ford Fletcher is the oldest living survivor at 109 years-old. Her brother, Hughes Van Ellis (aka Redd) was also a survivor, but, he, unfortunately, passed away on October 9, 2023. He was 102.

After reading her account, I couldn't believe that there are people in this country that would find it ok to murder families and children because they were living comfortable lives in the Black Wall Street. Viola, her brother, and the third survivor have been seeking reparations for their losses and trauma that they experienced on June 1, 2021. They have testified in front of the U.S. Congress on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre and testified before the Tulsa Courthouse, which at the time of writing the book, they are still awaiting a decision on the case.

Because of the popularity of the case and Viola's foundation, managed by her grandson, an organization surprised her, her family, and the third survivor with a trip to Ghana, a place that Viola wished to experience, but knew it wouldn't be possible. She was treated like royalty and enjoyed every minute.

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to know the history about what happened in Tulsa told by a woman who lived to tell the story.

I would have given this five stars, but there were so many errors in grammar and errors in general. I'm sad that this book was spoiled by bad editing.… (más)

This book caught my eye in the public library because I recently heard of the Tulsa Massacre and was intrigued by the fact that this book was co-authored by Viola Ford Fletcher, still alive and 109 years old when this book was written. She was an actual survivor, along with a younger brother, of the Tulsa Massacre. It is one thing to read about an historical event, but quite another to read about it by someone who personally experienced it.

Although this book was subtitled "in her own words", I was not entirely sure that Ford's words weren't edited to make this book more literary in its narrative. My only other issue with this book were the pictures, some of which were too small, and others (the portraits) which were distorted to fit into ovals (for whatever reason!).

An epilogue to this book describes an attempt by family lawyers to get a Tulsa court to recognize the massacre "as a public nuisance for how it has harmed the Black community of Tulsa for decades." After the publication of this book, that court dismissed the lawsuit which is now headed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on appeal.

This book covers the author's and her brother's testimony about their suffering to the U.S.Congressional Subcomittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties chaired by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. It includes the author's description of her experiences during that frightening time of her life plus what happened to her later in life. The end of the book was about her trip to Africa, which had been a lifelong dream of hers.

I feel that books such as this one and others like it should be read by everyone to put an historical event into a real life context. I'll be watching with curiosity for the outcome of the law suit appeal.… (más)

Don't Let Them Bury My Story by Viola Ford Fletcher is a valuable book not just because it is a firsthand account of the Tulsa Race Massacre but because it is in her own words, something that can often be difficult for Black writers, especially memoirists who might not be "professional" writers, to achieve.

This isn't the stand-back-and-report type of account, there are gradually more of those being written and researched. Those are certainly important for the details they can bring to how and why such a disgraceful event can occur. This is one person's account, this is the visceral experience of going through this event and its aftermath. History isn't just the statistics and the big picture. It is also people, human beings acting and being acted upon. It is the terror that these things can bring, the confusion of not fully grasping why hate can seem to grow from nothing more than someone being alive and doing well.

There is a lot to digest in Fletcher's account, from what life was like to what happened. I guess because I have been reading and studying a little about terrorism and how it works, what hit hard for me was reading about a child, the author, being woken in the night and told to collect what you could and lets go or we will be killed, that her neighbors were already being murdered. That feeling she experienced is the goal of terrorists, the goal of white supremacists who use violence and the threat of violence to maintain an unjust (dis)order. It is why a white boy can travel across state lines to gun people down and be adored by a segment of the population, then a Black teenager can be gunned down for walking through a neighborhood eating Skittles. Our justice system isn't so much about justice as it is about supporting terror.

Even if you don't get as angry as I clearly do about these things, this book will be appealing as a firsthand account of an important event in US history. Hopefully you won't think of it in quite that dry a manner, but at least you will know about the human cost of this specific event.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.… (más)

After emancipation, the Greenwood community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, served as an example of what African Americans could build in a free world. So-called “Black Wall Street” epitomized a community built around entrepreneurship, social responsibility, freedom, and neighborly love. They embodied American ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as much as anyone else.

Until the jealous white mob got involved in 1921. One night, in response to false accusations against a black citizen, this white mob burned the Greenwood community to the ground and murdered hundreds (we don’t have a count) of black citizens. Those who remained had to flee and encounter a new life of poverty and Jim Crow racism. Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of this tragedy, tells her story here.

The recent Black Lives Matter movement brought a new spotlight on historic injustices done – and still being done – to the African-American community all over the United States. The Tulsa Massacre was one of those featured in this movement. In response, Fletcher and her family were invited to testify before Congress and provide her account of what happened that fateful day. She expands on that story here in her memoir.

Her account of the day in 1921 reminded me of accounts of the Rwandan genocides in the 1990s. Today, many white people think that such things only happen in “uncivilized Africa.” Fletcher reminds us that such inhumanity occurred even in 20th-century America, only by the white mob. Even sadder were the effects that day had on Fletcher’s entire life. Instead of a stable home in a healthy community, she had to live out of a tent with her family for years. Her education stopped in the fourth grade. For decades, she was oppressed by Jim Crow racism. Bosses swindled her, and she lived in poverty. Her dreams were mostly halted.

Nonetheless, like many black Americans who have been mistreated in history, she persevered and clung to American ideals of liberty and equality. To drink a little of that fine, aged wine is why this book deserves to be read. Yes, it reminds us of the inhumanity people do to people. Yes, it tells of tragic suffering. But it also speaks of a noble character – Fletcher herself – whose determination can inspire us all, of any skin color. Though her court case ultimately failed, I’m glad she received some taste of a good life and recognition before she dies. May her tribe increase and those swept under by history receive their just rewards, too.… (más)