What an important story to tell! While I knew about "Black Wall Street" and the Tulsa Race Massacre prior to reading this, I didn't know nearly as much as I thought. I love how this focused on all the entrepreneurs and investors who built Greenwood from the ground up. One man's initial investment compounded to create a community with its own grocery stores, libraries, school, law offices, theater, mechanic, dress shop, cab service, and more. This was all during the 1920s when American Jim Crow policies were widespread.

The riot and destruction happened in only a few pages, echoing how the years of progress were destroyed in such a short time. Most of the book was focused on the building and the rebuilding of the community, and the success that could be achieved through group effort and dedication. What a world we could live in if this was everyone's focus...

As a side note - I didn't realize that the Creek in Oklahoma were owners of the most enslaved African Americans collectively at this time period. In the ending essays, there was an thought-provoking history described of the victims (Native Americans) becoming the oppressors to the next set of victims (African Creeks).

I really liked the style of the art in this graphic novel and was looking forward to learning more about the Tulsa Massacre since 2021 is the 100th anniversary. I thought that it was a decent start, but needs a bit more about the events during the riots and attacks. If there had been another 10 panels or so talking about the day and the new discoveries, it would be much stronger.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for my fair opinion.

Across the Tracks is an amazing book in so many ways. It is socially relevant, timely, and well-researched. Beyond that, the book is well-written, designed, and illustrated with detail and care. A book that is well worth reading, teaching, and sharing.

I knew a little about the Tulsa Race Massacre before reading this book, I knew that it happened in a Black neighbourhood, that the white population came in and destroyed everything and killed hundreds, simply for the crime of being Black, but I never knew much more than that; and I knew that I was in a minority of people who knew about it, mainly due to my fascination with history, and those parts of it that are often overlooked. The fact that this isn't something that's more widely known, however, and that some people only found out that this event happened thanks to the Watchmen television series is absolutely appalling. Hopefully this book will help to further educate people about this awful event.

This book focuses on not just the events of the massacre, but the history of Greenwood, and helps to make it clear to readers just how amazing and rare this place was. Alverne Ball goes into the history of this town, they describe how O. W. Gurley ought the land in 1905, how he would go on to sell portions of it to Black families to allow them not only a place to live, but a place that was their own, that belonged to them. The book goes on to describe how the building of this community wasn't just important for the Black population, but how it became a pioneer of Black owned businesses, and how in a system that was supposed to keep Black people poor the citizens of Tulsa flourished.

The book hammers home how Greenwood not just beat the odds, but smashed them. It became a town that was in a lot of ways strides ahead of many others, and it's a story that's incredibly inspirational. Sadly, the reason that Greenwood is so infamous isn't because of how much its citizens achieved, but how much they were forced to endure. On the 31st of May 1921 a young Black man called Dick Rowland was arrested under suspicion of assaulting a white woman. This suspicion was all that was needed for the white population to justify a lynching, and this would be the beginning of the event that would make Greenwood infamous.

Trying to prevent the lynching the Black members of the community tried to disrupt the white men gathered around the courthouse, hoping to get hold of Rowland. Unfortunately, this resulted in a confrontation that would lead to the white mob being deputised, and unleashed against Greenwood. With armed gangs in the street, and planes dropping bombs on homes, Greenwood was destroyed, and over 300 people lost their lives.

The book doesn't sugarcoat these events. It shows the brutality of what went on, and makes it clear that the Black community were the victims of racial hatred, that Greenwood and its population was almost destroyed because of the prejudice that was rampant in America at the time. Despite this, the book manages to end on a note of hope, going on to show readers how the population rebuilt, and how they didn't let this event beat them.

Across the Tracks shows the awfulness of what happened at Tulsa, the brutality that the Black population faced, yet managed to fight through. It shows an awful, ugly side of humanity, yet an amazingly beautiful one too. It shows that even when being held back people can still achieve amazing things, and that communities can come together to rebuild in the face of tragedy. The Tulsa Race Massacre should not be forgotten, it should not be something that people learn about for the first time as adults watching a comic book show. This should be something that people are taught in schools, it should be a lesson on how racism and discrimination are awful, destructive forces, and things that should never be repeated.

Sadly, I don't see this being a subject that schools will cover, and I think it will continue to be a well hidden secret of America's past; so it's down to books like this, to creators like Alverne Ball and Stacey Robinson to spread this story, to teach people about this dark moment from American history. I just sincerely hope that this book will be given that chance to educate, enlighten, and enrich.

An excellent, though brief introduction for young people looking to learn a little bit about a specific time in African-American history post emancipation. It makes note of important yet little known African-American figures of the Oklahoma area in the early 1900's and has very beautiful black and white artwork to enhance the story.