Victor Luckerson moves beyond the mythology of Black Wall Street to tell the story of an aspirant black neighborhood that has long been buffeted by racist government policies. Through the eyes of dozens of race massacre survivors and their descendants, Luckerson delivers a portrait of this national symbol of success and solidarity--and weaves a tale about a neighborhood that refused to be erased.
Absorbing ... Luckerson... adeptly takes us through Greenwood’s history, resisting the impulse to glorify its founders or endorse the idea that more Black-owned businesses can repair the ravages of racial capitalism ... By the end of Luckerson’s outstanding book, the idea of building something new from the ashes of what has been destroyed becomes comprehensible, even hopeful.
In cinematic prose, Luckerson follows James H. Goodwin ... Luckerson uses the deadly rampage less as a climactic set-piece and more as a framing narrative for the ensuing century ... Over 500 meticulously footnoted pages... Built From the Fire offers a case study of how present-day Greenwood, and dozens of other struggling Black communities, got here.
Exceptional ... This compelling account — spanning three generations over a century — does not present the community at its core as a monolith, or skirt the complexities and frailties of its members. Luckerson shines a light on uncomfortable fissures between Oklahoma’s Black freedmen and Black migrants from the South ... Does more than re-create the rich mosaic of life in Greenwood at the time of the massacre; it draws a through line from the infamous attack to the present, illustrating how institutional opposition sought to cement Greenwood’s destruction ... Luckerson’s thoroughly researched and empathetically written account — anchored in the complex experiences of the Greenwood residents themselves — gives voice to a powerful, exquisitely multifaceted community that refuses to be silenced
