Reviews

When They Blew the Levee: Race, Politics, and Community in Pinhook, Missouri by David Todd Lawrence

femmeinthestacks's review against another edition

4.0

Established in the 1940s, Black farmers bought the land in a flood plain, because it was the only land they could buy as African Americans. Until 2011 they had a thriving community named Pinhook, until heavy rain caused the Army Corps of Engineers to blow the levee to save a nearby (white) town. The residents of Pinhook had only a few hours to evacuate and without government assistance. In fact, they didn’t even find out they had to evacuate from government officials, but rather word of mouth from friends outside of the community. When the Levee Broke is a case study that focuses on the oral histories and narratives of Black Pinhook residents. Through large chunks of transcripts, the authors let Pinhook residents tell their story and share their struggles and hope for rebuilding their town. What happened to Pinhook was not an isolated incident, but part of a larger system of discrimination, indifference, and environmental racism that devalued and ignored their community.