A review by aman757
We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by Caleb Gayle

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

i read this book after recently reading a sacred path, which presented a brief anthology of the muscogee creek nation, and also reading black wall street 100, which gave a background to and persepective on one of the most critical narratives of black tulsans and black people in oklahoma indian territory. and from reading we refuse to forget, i realized that neither of these previously mentioned books did enough to describe just how historical circumstances and white supremacy have made necessary the type of dual-unified identity that many black creek people have exhibited through lived action as well as handed down through generations. one of the main questions i'd formed while reading this book and still am working through some in my head and heart is how i may be able to eventually move from a place of respect for and admiration of the process by which black creeks have forged and defended their rights and identity to living my own life in a way that i may continue to seek to live as an ally to black and indigenous people with whom i share community, while also emulating the process to constantly seek to find more of myself through personal and collective identity as was described about so many remarkable individuals in this book, including cow tom, jake simmons jr., demario solomon-simmons, and ron graham, among several others. i recognize that it is possible to better know people without reading about their lives, especially if it be through a lens of otherness, but with how much a lack of true human compassion and concern for other people has been shown throughout the history of the state of oklahoma, particularly the history of the white european-americans and ideas perpetrated by systems established under white supremacy having forced interaction with indigenous-americans and black natives, whether formerly enslaved or not, it is important to me to learn about what has led to that discrimination and disenfranchisement in the past to avoid the perpetuation of such practices or systems in the present. and therefore, i would certainly recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to learn more about how blackness and native identity interact and shape the future of what america may be and even become, and i would add that the narratives of black creeks, as described in this book, are uniquely important to this dialogue, though there may be some pride talking with that statement, with having grown up and received my early schooling on creek indian reservation lands and, while not a member of the tribe, having a sense of connection to the creek nation in that way.