Run It Back

Run It Back is an episodic newsletter about neglected black history. It serves as my reporter’s notebook, where I process newly unearthed historical facts and try to explain why they still matter today.

Check out these earlier newsletter issues for some stories about Greenwood and black Oklahoma that stretch beyond the pages of my book:

#002: Black Gold - Oil, wealth, and deception flowed in tandem on the outskirts of Tulsa in the early 1900’s. I uncovered some tales of white guardians defrauding black people of their land in that era.

#019: What They Lost - A partial accounting of what was taken from Greenwood as it burned

#021: What the White Folks Know - A look at how the story of the massacre was passed down in white communities, including an interview with a descendant of the white mob that burned Greenwood

There is much more in the Run It Back archives, including a look at the police’s role in the massacre, stories of black settlers participating in the Oklahoma land runs, and reflections on how Greenwood has long celebrated Juneteenth. You can read all the old issues here.