Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

While writing this book in 2020, Colbert reflects on how historians will view 2020 in 100 years and the tumultuous period of the pandemic and the protests against the police killings of innocent Black people like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by two white men. Colbert traces the history of the Black Lives Matter Movement, starting with the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and culminating in the “monumental” protests after the murder of George Floyd (195). She also explores the impact of the elections of 2016 and 2020 and the presidency of Donald J. Trump, culminating in the January 6 riot and raid of the Capitol by Trump supporters, a riot in which police did little to stop the mostly white mob.

Colbert states that much violence and instability results from people’s ignorance about history. Traumatic events like the Greenwood Massacre are difficult to confront, but it is still important to do so. Colbert states that to ignore the painful aspects of the past is disrespectful to those harmed and killed and to their descendants. This ignorance can also breed future violence.

Colbert is haunted by the “what-ifs” of the Tulsa Massacre. What if it never happened? What would have happened if Black history was more central to America’s historical narrative? She pledges to keep pushing in her research, to keep her