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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
Angel of Greenwood is teen romance set against the back drop of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. It is a sweet story that tracks the age old debate of DuBois and Booker T. Washington on identifying what’s the best method to achieve black prosperity. I think readers, DuBois, and Washington all realize that it will take more than one to achieve economic comfort within the black community. And more than anything it will take, the black community to come together to push against the “rioters” who oppose our progress. I appreciate Pink’s discussion of this topic in the book, but I wish she gave readers more. For a YA audience this is perfect, but I need more! I love that her intent was write a book where black teenagers could fall in love in peace. I think that’s beautiful and desire nothing less for my children.
I was reviewing my highlights from this book and I found two that I think encompass what needs to be said:
"Two intelligent, passionate Black folk. Kissing freely in the middle of the street their own people owned. What a wonderful world it was." This was 70% into the book by way of citation.
"There was no way to live peacefully alongside the foe. No building by one’s own bootstraps or rising from ashes." At 78% in.
Intelligent, passionate Black people kissing that ends with them having to rise from ashes, literally. If I could tell a story in two quotes those would be it.
Angel and Isaiah are teenagers living in Greenwood that share a love of books and with different ideas about how Black people should continue to live, differing between Du Bois and Booker T. There is love and poetry, mischief and flames.
You can forget what's coming, enamored with the story, until the countdown date at the start of the chapter reminds you that history hasn't forgotten. And we shouldn't either.
"Two intelligent, passionate Black folk. Kissing freely in the middle of the street their own people owned. What a wonderful world it was." This was 70% into the book by way of citation.
"There was no way to live peacefully alongside the foe. No building by one’s own bootstraps or rising from ashes." At 78% in.
Intelligent, passionate Black people kissing that ends with them having to rise from ashes, literally. If I could tell a story in two quotes those would be it.
Angel and Isaiah are teenagers living in Greenwood that share a love of books and with different ideas about how Black people should continue to live, differing between Du Bois and Booker T. There is love and poetry, mischief and flames.
You can forget what's coming, enamored with the story, until the countdown date at the start of the chapter reminds you that history hasn't forgotten. And we shouldn't either.
Isaiah Wilson is a bit of a troublemaker along with his best friend Muggy. He is a devote of WEB du Bois. Angel Hill is a bit of a loner and loves Booker T. Washington. The two are brought together by their English teacher for a special project taking books to underprivileged areas of Greenwood. While working, the two become closer and Isaiah reforms a bit while Angel loosens up. When tragedy strikes Greenwood in the middle of the night, the two must rise up to help save their community.
This is based off of the destruction of Black Wall Street. I hadn't know much about it and appreciated the afterward that gave a little of the history. It took a little bit to get into but quickly picked up speed.
This is based off of the destruction of Black Wall Street. I hadn't know much about it and appreciated the afterward that gave a little of the history. It took a little bit to get into but quickly picked up speed.
I have no words. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking. Please read it; there is so much work still to do.
A bit slower paced than I usually like, but had some really powerful characters and writing.
I have been wanting to read this book since it came out, but it hadn't made it to the top of the pile until now. While overall I think it is a good book, I had some trouble staying focused on all the details in the first half of the book, but I stuck with it bc I thought it was an important topic to read about. The last part of the book was very engaging and kept me involved. The author's description of the horrific events was very well done, and I felt several of the emotions as I was reading.
Even at my later middle age i had not heard about the Greenwood/Tulsa events until just fairly recently. It just makes me SICK to know that human beings were on both sides of these awful things. That white people had such hate and mental illness to think it was okay to execute such violence towards other human beings, and that black people had to experience this shear terror and pain executed by others. I truly live a sheltered life.
Even at my later middle age i had not heard about the Greenwood/Tulsa events until just fairly recently. It just makes me SICK to know that human beings were on both sides of these awful things. That white people had such hate and mental illness to think it was okay to execute such violence towards other human beings, and that black people had to experience this shear terror and pain executed by others. I truly live a sheltered life.
I don’t even know what to say about this book. I am shook. It is an amazing rollercoaster of feelings and should be required reading for every high schooler.
Quick read, kind of YA-style although of course the content regarding the Tulsa Massacre is very violent and intense. I thought it was interesting how the author spent the majority of the book not talking about the massacre at all. It didn't even happen until 75% through. The first 3/4 of the book were just a sweet, simple love story between the two teenage protagonists. In the afterward, she explains how this book originated as a story of "her Wakanda" which was an innocent, carefree world where her Black children could grow up and fall in love without thinking about racism, and that she only added the part about Greenwood later on after speaking with an historian. The book definitely reflected this, as the main point of it seemed to be to demonstrate how thriving and successful Greenwood was in 1921 prior to the violence. If you cut off the last 5 chapters or so, you would just think, wow what a sweet wholesome story about some teenage romance. The massacre part *did* feel a little tacked on (because it was), but I like how the author is trying to share about this important history as well, and honor the victims and the survivors.
Reading this, I kept thinking about how a similar book could be written about my current city, Wilmington, NC. Like Tulsa, most of the residents of Wilmington were unaware of its violent past and the 1898 coup until just recently when activists started educating our community about it. It's a very similar story of a thriving Black community that was a little *too* thriving for the white people who lived there, resulting in resentment and violence. I'm glad these stories are being told now, as tragic and horrific as they are.
Reading this, I kept thinking about how a similar book could be written about my current city, Wilmington, NC. Like Tulsa, most of the residents of Wilmington were unaware of its violent past and the 1898 coup until just recently when activists started educating our community about it. It's a very similar story of a thriving Black community that was a little *too* thriving for the white people who lived there, resulting in resentment and violence. I'm glad these stories are being told now, as tragic and horrific as they are.