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We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power
“An important part of American history told with a clear-eyed and forceful brilliance.” —National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson
“ We Refuse to Forget reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we've seldom seen or imagined… We Refuse to Forget is a new standard in book-making.” —Kiese Laymon, author of the bestselling Heavy: An American Memoir
A landmark work of untold American history that reshapes our understanding of identity, race, and belonging
In We Refuse to Forget , award-winning journalist Caleb Gayle tells the extraordinary story of the Creek Nation, a Native tribe that two centuries ago both owned slaves and accepted Black people as full citizens. Thanks to the efforts of Creek leaders like Cow Tom, a Black Creek citizen who rose to become chief, the U.S. government recognized Creek citizenship in 1866 for its Black members. Yet this equality was shredded in the 1970s when tribal leaders revoked the citizenship of Black Creeks, even those who could trace their history back generations—even to Cow Tom himself.
Why did this happen? How was the U.S. government involved? And what are Cow Tom’s descendants and other Black Creeks doing to regain their citizenship? These are some of the questions that Gayle explores in this provocative examination of racial and ethnic identity. By delving into the history and interviewing Black Creeks who are fighting to have their citizenship reinstated, he lays bare the racism and greed at the heart of this story. We Refuse to Forget is an eye-opening account that challenges our preconceptions of identity as it shines new light on the long shadows of white supremacy and marginalization that continue to hamper progress for Black Americans.
“ We Refuse to Forget reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we've seldom seen or imagined… We Refuse to Forget is a new standard in book-making.” —Kiese Laymon, author of the bestselling Heavy: An American Memoir
A landmark work of untold American history that reshapes our understanding of identity, race, and belonging
In We Refuse to Forget , award-winning journalist Caleb Gayle tells the extraordinary story of the Creek Nation, a Native tribe that two centuries ago both owned slaves and accepted Black people as full citizens. Thanks to the efforts of Creek leaders like Cow Tom, a Black Creek citizen who rose to become chief, the U.S. government recognized Creek citizenship in 1866 for its Black members. Yet this equality was shredded in the 1970s when tribal leaders revoked the citizenship of Black Creeks, even those who could trace their history back generations—even to Cow Tom himself.
Why did this happen? How was the U.S. government involved? And what are Cow Tom’s descendants and other Black Creeks doing to regain their citizenship? These are some of the questions that Gayle explores in this provocative examination of racial and ethnic identity. By delving into the history and interviewing Black Creeks who are fighting to have their citizenship reinstated, he lays bare the racism and greed at the heart of this story. We Refuse to Forget is an eye-opening account that challenges our preconceptions of identity as it shines new light on the long shadows of white supremacy and marginalization that continue to hamper progress for Black Americans.
272 pages, Paperback
Published June 6, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 22, 2022
This book is really impressive and the research is just wow. There’s a section in the third quarter that had me locked in. It’s also very academic and a slow read. I struggled finding my way in.
June 24, 2022
I'm in awe of this book.
September 3, 2022
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. The information in this book is important and I am sad to say that I most of this information was new to me. I was taught very little about indigenous history in general, even less about Creek history and literally nothing about Black Creeks. My Idaho education was pretty lacking and I am continually working on expanding that education. With so much of this information and history being brand new to me I found the actual content of the book really interesting. The reason I am struggling with how to rate We Refuse to Forget is because of the writing. I found the writing to be dry, slow and at times fairly repetitive. I felt like I was reading a text book and it took me quite a while to get through. I love reading non-fiction books and I promise they are not all like this.
October 26, 2025
This book investigates a singular, marginal identity—people who, along with their ancestors, are “fully Black and fully Creek.” And in doing so, it exposes & interrogates some crucial aspects of race and power in American history.
For a fairly dense nonfiction book, the tone is both measured and curious. The personal narrative threads do feel a little muddled at times, but even at that, there are flashes of real poignancy and insight. They serve as a recurring clarification that this isn’t abstract history; it’s bound up with current lives, and living inheritances.
For me, what landed most was the depiction of how systematically the U.S. government dismantled the communal structures of the Creek people. The goal wasn’t only—maybe not even primarily—to seize land, but to break down collective identity. White colonizers, embodied in the US government, “knew that communalism among the Creeks provided strength, but you can divide and conquer a nation more easily with private property if you pit family estate against family estate.” The 1887 Dawes Act was formulated to do exactly that, to “divide Indigenous, communally held lands. . . . [forcing] these Nations, according to historian Kent Blansett, to ‘assume a capitalist and proprietary relationship with property.’ ” And, sadder still, with each other. Gayle elucidates how political and economic power work to convince people to see themselves apart from the communities that once sustained them. This was a widespread process, affecting the history of many Indian nations, and it’s well demonstrated in the specifics Gayle provides.
There is a powerful combination of intellect and anger throughout the book, and it’s infectious. It’s not a polemic, but you won’t come away from it without some outrage. The book is reflective, and at the same time deeply unsettling in its exploration of just how thoroughly the forces of racial hierarchy have been woven into law, policy and practice—both in the US as a whole, and even within the Creek nation itself.
For a fairly dense nonfiction book, the tone is both measured and curious. The personal narrative threads do feel a little muddled at times, but even at that, there are flashes of real poignancy and insight. They serve as a recurring clarification that this isn’t abstract history; it’s bound up with current lives, and living inheritances.
For me, what landed most was the depiction of how systematically the U.S. government dismantled the communal structures of the Creek people. The goal wasn’t only—maybe not even primarily—to seize land, but to break down collective identity. White colonizers, embodied in the US government, “knew that communalism among the Creeks provided strength, but you can divide and conquer a nation more easily with private property if you pit family estate against family estate.” The 1887 Dawes Act was formulated to do exactly that, to “divide Indigenous, communally held lands. . . . [forcing] these Nations, according to historian Kent Blansett, to ‘assume a capitalist and proprietary relationship with property.’ ” And, sadder still, with each other. Gayle elucidates how political and economic power work to convince people to see themselves apart from the communities that once sustained them. This was a widespread process, affecting the history of many Indian nations, and it’s well demonstrated in the specifics Gayle provides.
There is a powerful combination of intellect and anger throughout the book, and it’s infectious. It’s not a polemic, but you won’t come away from it without some outrage. The book is reflective, and at the same time deeply unsettling in its exploration of just how thoroughly the forces of racial hierarchy have been woven into law, policy and practice—both in the US as a whole, and even within the Creek nation itself.
June 3, 2022
We Refuse to Forget is a fascinating book that explains how and why the Creek Nation, a Native American tribe, both owned enslaved Black people and welcomed them into their families as citizens. This strange, seemingly opposing dynamic had one force pushing it towards the modern times, where Black Creek people suddenly found themselves severed from their ancestry. And the force in question? White supremacy.
The author, journalist Caleb Gayle, explores how white colonists and the US government completely changed the Creek way of living and forced the tribe to flee their land. I found it truly fascinating that Creeks didn’t want to participate in using slave labor at first, but they were pushed into it by white people, and it was because of white people’s wars and politics that many Black Creeks are no longer accepted as part of the tribe. Gayle proves that Black people had a huge role in leading and trying to protect the tribe, and seeing the way that their descendants’ history and identity is being wiped away is heartbreaking. It’s also so important to remember that Native tribes were being lied to by the white settlers and how the US government aimed to eradicate them through force or by ‘civilizing’ them. My only issue with this book is that there were bits of information that would appear again in next chapters which made these parts feel repetitive. On the other hand, repetition is a great way to retain knowledge, and this book is nothing if not filled with information I wanted to retain!
TLDR: We Refuse to Forget is a fantastic, thought-provoking read about the way white supremacy drives a wedge between different groups of people and the fight for reclaiming identity.
The author, journalist Caleb Gayle, explores how white colonists and the US government completely changed the Creek way of living and forced the tribe to flee their land. I found it truly fascinating that Creeks didn’t want to participate in using slave labor at first, but they were pushed into it by white people, and it was because of white people’s wars and politics that many Black Creeks are no longer accepted as part of the tribe. Gayle proves that Black people had a huge role in leading and trying to protect the tribe, and seeing the way that their descendants’ history and identity is being wiped away is heartbreaking. It’s also so important to remember that Native tribes were being lied to by the white settlers and how the US government aimed to eradicate them through force or by ‘civilizing’ them. My only issue with this book is that there were bits of information that would appear again in next chapters which made these parts feel repetitive. On the other hand, repetition is a great way to retain knowledge, and this book is nothing if not filled with information I wanted to retain!
TLDR: We Refuse to Forget is a fantastic, thought-provoking read about the way white supremacy drives a wedge between different groups of people and the fight for reclaiming identity.
November 13, 2022
I normally love to read nonfiction about indigenous people, but I struggled with this book.
I’m not sure Gayle’s personal story of being a Jamaican American had much of anything to do with the story of the Black Creeks. His choice to blend his memoir with unrelated history felt disjointed throughout. I get that he was trying to show the shared issues of being Black in a white America, but it was a stretch for me.
The writing is dry, informative over narrative.
Some content is unnecessarily repetitive, while other parts are quickly glossed over.
I found Cow Tom’s story fascinating, and the Black Creeks' history interesting as well as sad, but overall I struggled to stay connected.
*Thanks to Riverhead for the finished copy!*
I’m not sure Gayle’s personal story of being a Jamaican American had much of anything to do with the story of the Black Creeks. His choice to blend his memoir with unrelated history felt disjointed throughout. I get that he was trying to show the shared issues of being Black in a white America, but it was a stretch for me.
The writing is dry, informative over narrative.
Some content is unnecessarily repetitive, while other parts are quickly glossed over.
I found Cow Tom’s story fascinating, and the Black Creeks' history interesting as well as sad, but overall I struggled to stay connected.
*Thanks to Riverhead for the finished copy!*
December 8, 2022
I listened to this on Audible
I found this book difficult to follow. Gayle, who grew up in Oklahoma, came to understand that some people in the area who are Black are also Creek, yet no longer Creek. Through the many convolutions the United States made to define what made someone Black affected tribes who fully accepted their Black members as part of their Nation.
Through the history of Cow Tom, a man who had never been a slave, we learn that as the tribes were pushed westward, those members who had not been slaves as well as those who were slaves to the Creek stayed with the tribe, accepted as members of the tribe - voting with them, sharing, marrying, and holding positions of authority within the tribe. Cow Tom was a leader and a chief. helping to broker changes that bettered the tribe.
After the Civil War, they were still members of the tribe...until they weren't. What changed was an acceptance by a chief of the old blood rule laid out by the Dawes commission decades earlier. A chief in the 1970s saw that using this false idea of blood to determine race would be beneficial to the tribe. Now they were denied what had been theirs since before the Civil War.
That is a very rough idea of what WE REFUSE TO FORGET is about. It is also a story of identity and family history and a story that has never been brought to a fair treatment.
The author jumps around, never sticks with a topic for very long, and touches so briefly on other topics that the reader wonders why it was brought up in the first place. This led me to downrate the book along with the author's almost monotonous tone in his delivery. I agree with what he says but felt it was not as well done as it could have been. A history that is reflected in today seems to be a difficult story to relate, as it requires traveling back and forth through time.
I found this book difficult to follow. Gayle, who grew up in Oklahoma, came to understand that some people in the area who are Black are also Creek, yet no longer Creek. Through the many convolutions the United States made to define what made someone Black affected tribes who fully accepted their Black members as part of their Nation.
Through the history of Cow Tom, a man who had never been a slave, we learn that as the tribes were pushed westward, those members who had not been slaves as well as those who were slaves to the Creek stayed with the tribe, accepted as members of the tribe - voting with them, sharing, marrying, and holding positions of authority within the tribe. Cow Tom was a leader and a chief. helping to broker changes that bettered the tribe.
After the Civil War, they were still members of the tribe...until they weren't. What changed was an acceptance by a chief of the old blood rule laid out by the Dawes commission decades earlier. A chief in the 1970s saw that using this false idea of blood to determine race would be beneficial to the tribe. Now they were denied what had been theirs since before the Civil War.
That is a very rough idea of what WE REFUSE TO FORGET is about. It is also a story of identity and family history and a story that has never been brought to a fair treatment.
The author jumps around, never sticks with a topic for very long, and touches so briefly on other topics that the reader wonders why it was brought up in the first place. This led me to downrate the book along with the author's almost monotonous tone in his delivery. I agree with what he says but felt it was not as well done as it could have been. A history that is reflected in today seems to be a difficult story to relate, as it requires traveling back and forth through time.
July 8, 2022
We Refuse to Forget is an interesting and informative book that explains how and why the Creek Nation, an Indigenous tribe, both owned enslaved Black people and welcomed them into their families as citizens. it's a thought-provoking read on how white supremacy drives a wall between the fight to reclaiming identity and many groups of people. Black people who are fully Black and Fully Creek are being denied their Indigenous ancestry. This book reminds us that we must remember and keep sharing our history.
August 19, 2022
When blacks would go into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and live with the Creeks, they had the opportunity to marry into the tribe. When they did, they became a member of the tribe. This is the story of the Simmons family. It tells the history of their family from Cow Tom, the first member of the family to be a Black Creek who was a chief of the tribe, through his present-day descendants who had their citizenship in the Creek Nation taken from them in 1979 when the Creeks wrote a new constitution that fell in line with what the U.S. Government wanted for them to have more autonomy over their tribal culture, lives, and government. The family and other Black Creek families are trying to get the Black Creek citizenship returned to them and have shown through their genealogies that they are blood Creeks.
I found this book fascinating on so many levels. Obviously, I enjoyed the Simmons Family history. I liked reading of their successes and prosperity as they were treated like people in the Creek Nation. I liked seeing the opportunities for them before the white settlers came into Indian Territory after the Civil War. The U.S. government broke treaties with the tribes and forced their bigoted roles onto the tribes, especially Black members of those tribes.
Reading the history and culture of the Creeks was interesting. I learned so much that I was never taught in school. I also liked learning some of the history of Oklahoma. I knew little of it and have only recently learned of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. I appreciated knowing it still affects the race relations between Tulsa residents.
I liked that Mr. Gayle puts his experiences into the book since his family only moved to Oklahoma when he was eight. I liked how he takes the history of the Black Creeks and thinks about its effect on him today. It makes me think also of how much I need to learn of the Black experience and the negative impact that still abounds within the Black community from slavery, Jim Crow laws, police brutality, and white privledge and apathy.
This is a book all people need to read. It opened my eyes to how much we are not taught and how much is whitewashed or ignored. Very well written and worth your time though it is a hard book to read.
I found this book fascinating on so many levels. Obviously, I enjoyed the Simmons Family history. I liked reading of their successes and prosperity as they were treated like people in the Creek Nation. I liked seeing the opportunities for them before the white settlers came into Indian Territory after the Civil War. The U.S. government broke treaties with the tribes and forced their bigoted roles onto the tribes, especially Black members of those tribes.
Reading the history and culture of the Creeks was interesting. I learned so much that I was never taught in school. I also liked learning some of the history of Oklahoma. I knew little of it and have only recently learned of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. I appreciated knowing it still affects the race relations between Tulsa residents.
I liked that Mr. Gayle puts his experiences into the book since his family only moved to Oklahoma when he was eight. I liked how he takes the history of the Black Creeks and thinks about its effect on him today. It makes me think also of how much I need to learn of the Black experience and the negative impact that still abounds within the Black community from slavery, Jim Crow laws, police brutality, and white privledge and apathy.
This is a book all people need to read. It opened my eyes to how much we are not taught and how much is whitewashed or ignored. Very well written and worth your time though it is a hard book to read.
July 25, 2022
Thank you @riverheadbooks and award-winning journalist for the finished copy of We Refuse To Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power, which released June 7th!
Summary: A landmark work of untold American history that reshapes our understanding of identity, race, and belonging. To read more about the summary, swipe to the next photo. ➡️
Thoughts 💭: As someone who studied post-colonialism theory during my PhD, one aspect I wished I had learned more about was settler colonialism and indigenous cultures. I chose to review this book inspired by the fact that the Pope is currently on an apology tour in Canada for the indigenous population in Catholic residential schools. Gayle’s history-journalistic-and personal identity as a Jamaican American seeks to explore intersectional identities that have existed for centuries shaped by settler colonialism and slavery in America. As he explores these topics in his book, one thing that struck me was that middle school was the last time I learned about the Trail of Tears, but the history was brief and quickly wrapped up. This is an important but overlooked part of American history not often taught in schools but a key part of American identity. Gayle also contextualises the geopolitical location of Oklahoma in this book, harking the Black-indigenous politics in Tulsa, Oklahoma - the location of the Tulsa Race Massacre - an event recounted in the 2019 show Watchmen and 2020 show Lovecraft Country.
Summary: A landmark work of untold American history that reshapes our understanding of identity, race, and belonging. To read more about the summary, swipe to the next photo. ➡️
Thoughts 💭: As someone who studied post-colonialism theory during my PhD, one aspect I wished I had learned more about was settler colonialism and indigenous cultures. I chose to review this book inspired by the fact that the Pope is currently on an apology tour in Canada for the indigenous population in Catholic residential schools. Gayle’s history-journalistic-and personal identity as a Jamaican American seeks to explore intersectional identities that have existed for centuries shaped by settler colonialism and slavery in America. As he explores these topics in his book, one thing that struck me was that middle school was the last time I learned about the Trail of Tears, but the history was brief and quickly wrapped up. This is an important but overlooked part of American history not often taught in schools but a key part of American identity. Gayle also contextualises the geopolitical location of Oklahoma in this book, harking the Black-indigenous politics in Tulsa, Oklahoma - the location of the Tulsa Race Massacre - an event recounted in the 2019 show Watchmen and 2020 show Lovecraft Country.
September 15, 2022
We often have to educate ourselves on history if it doesn't specifically focus on white folks. This book gives some great background history on Oklahoma and Indiginous history and goes further to dig into where Black Creeks fall in that. This was new to me and I bet it would be to a lot of readers.
This is a specific history and it's not too dense. I never felt overwhelmed and I felt like this was mostly presented in an accessible way.
I do wish there had been a greater focus on actual Black Creeks. I wanted to hear more first hand stories. The stories about Cow Tom and his family and the Simmons' family were strong and it would have been great if Gayle had gotten more. Like, why specifically do folks want/need to be part of the Creek Nation (other than just getting mail from the tribe?). How would folks whose citizenship was stripped contribute to the tribe if it's reinstated?
I also didn't find Gayle's personal story to add anything to this history. I found him stretching to align how he felt alienated as a Jamaican American from New York with the folks who couldn't get access to tribal citizenship due to bureaucracy. I also felt like there was a lot of redundancy to his writing and it tended to be dry.
I don't know how many books there are on this particular history so I'd definitely recommend picking it up to learn more.
This is a specific history and it's not too dense. I never felt overwhelmed and I felt like this was mostly presented in an accessible way.
I do wish there had been a greater focus on actual Black Creeks. I wanted to hear more first hand stories. The stories about Cow Tom and his family and the Simmons' family were strong and it would have been great if Gayle had gotten more. Like, why specifically do folks want/need to be part of the Creek Nation (other than just getting mail from the tribe?). How would folks whose citizenship was stripped contribute to the tribe if it's reinstated?
I also didn't find Gayle's personal story to add anything to this history. I found him stretching to align how he felt alienated as a Jamaican American from New York with the folks who couldn't get access to tribal citizenship due to bureaucracy. I also felt like there was a lot of redundancy to his writing and it tended to be dry.
I don't know how many books there are on this particular history so I'd definitely recommend picking it up to learn more.
August 6, 2023
When I first learned that some Native American nations enslaved Black people, I was taken aback. This was information I had not expected to find. I had questions: how and why did this happen? Who were the Cherokee Freedmen? The Creek Freedmen? I set out to find answers.
I’m now much better-educated, thanks partly to Caleb Gayle’s work on the Black Creeks, their history within the Creek nation and their ongoing struggle to regain their citizenship in the nation.
Gayle explodes some myths, pointing out that not all Black Creeks were enslaved people. He lucidly explains complicated history and decries the tendency to oversimplify people’s identities. Indeed, much of We Refuse to Forget is a thoughtful meditation on identity and a strong critique of those who would flatten someone’s identity instead of celebrating the beauty of complexity. A person can be fully Creek and fully Black, Gayle contends, a position confirmed by the Black Creeks whose stories he tells.
We Refuse to Forget is illuminating, informative, and cogently-argued. It’s an excellent companion to I’ve Been Here All the While, Alaina E. Roberts’ eye-opening account of Black life in the Native American nations that were forcibly removed to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
I’m now much better-educated, thanks partly to Caleb Gayle’s work on the Black Creeks, their history within the Creek nation and their ongoing struggle to regain their citizenship in the nation.
Gayle explodes some myths, pointing out that not all Black Creeks were enslaved people. He lucidly explains complicated history and decries the tendency to oversimplify people’s identities. Indeed, much of We Refuse to Forget is a thoughtful meditation on identity and a strong critique of those who would flatten someone’s identity instead of celebrating the beauty of complexity. A person can be fully Creek and fully Black, Gayle contends, a position confirmed by the Black Creeks whose stories he tells.
We Refuse to Forget is illuminating, informative, and cogently-argued. It’s an excellent companion to I’ve Been Here All the While, Alaina E. Roberts’ eye-opening account of Black life in the Native American nations that were forcibly removed to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
January 8, 2024
Passionate telling of the fight for Black Creeks to regain their tribal citizenship.
"One of the truths of American history is that white men have been telling people who are not white men who they are and who they can be. It's why racist policies have persisted and it's fundamentally why the controversy between the Creek Nation and its former Black citizens still brews."
Not Creek himself, Gayle finds relevance to the story -- from before the Civil War to the Tulsa Massacre to disenrollment policy and Tulsa today -- in what identity means, and questions of race and belonging and self-determination.
It is not as meticulously footnoted as some similar works, which was a bit frustrating when there were things I wanted to research more. It still gives a lot to think about and some additional sources.
Things that stand out:
1. The classification of the Black Creek as "freedmen" even though many had not been slaves, which that term specifically implied.
2. So many tribes worry about preserving language, but here is one that kicked out people who spoke it.
Of course the culprit is white supremacy, and Gayle traces some of the reasons for the choices that makes sense, but...
3. Everything the white man was encouraging was to get more land.
"One of the truths of American history is that white men have been telling people who are not white men who they are and who they can be. It's why racist policies have persisted and it's fundamentally why the controversy between the Creek Nation and its former Black citizens still brews."
Not Creek himself, Gayle finds relevance to the story -- from before the Civil War to the Tulsa Massacre to disenrollment policy and Tulsa today -- in what identity means, and questions of race and belonging and self-determination.
It is not as meticulously footnoted as some similar works, which was a bit frustrating when there were things I wanted to research more. It still gives a lot to think about and some additional sources.
Things that stand out:
1. The classification of the Black Creek as "freedmen" even though many had not been slaves, which that term specifically implied.
2. So many tribes worry about preserving language, but here is one that kicked out people who spoke it.
Of course the culprit is white supremacy, and Gayle traces some of the reasons for the choices that makes sense, but...
3. Everything the white man was encouraging was to get more land.
July 20, 2023
3.8 - was really excited to dig into this book since this is a topic I didn’t know much about beforehand. While it didn’t go quite as deep as I was hoping it would, I think it would be an excellent addition to a high school or college 101/201-level curriculum. I appreciated the author making connections between his own Jamaican-American Black identity and the Black Creek community he was researching. However, he did spend a lot of time making explicit connections between the historical context and the greater point he was trying to make in a way that sometimes felt redundant/unnecessary to spell out in its entirety. Overall though, this book inspired me to learn more about Black Wall Street and the intersection of Black and Indigenous identities.
February 24, 2023
So good!! I didn’t know about this topic beforehand and this book just wraps it up & explains the injustices against Black Creeks in simple yet informative way
July 27, 2023
Great book, very interesting and sometimes heartbreaking/frustrating.
July 17, 2022
While not written in a dispassionate style, the author does bring to light a little-studied aspect of America's history. Many Native American tribes were initially receptive to including people of different racial backgrounds into their communities. As Anglo-American notions of slavery became accepted, some tribes began holding Africans in bondage as their white neighbors did. This resulted in a number of Indian Nations having a significant portion of their population who were either fully black from a racial standpoint or of mixed ancestry. Some had been slaves, while others had always been free. Some "black Indians" were among those in positions of tribal leadership, as was the case in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. During the days of Indian Territory (Oklahoma before statehood), citizenship in the Creek Nation afforded black people true equality and opportunities far beyond anything available to them in the United States. Following statehood, Oklahoma began passing Black Codes that diminished this equality. Ultimately, Nations such as the Creeks stripped most black people of citizenship. Even today, the Black Creeks continue to fight for the Creek citizenship they once had.
March 2, 2022
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
I quite enjoyed author Caleb Gayle’s examination on issues of race, identity, and white supremacy viewed through the lens of the Black Creeks. We Refuse to Forget actually ended up discussing a much wider scope than anticipated, as I originally expected a lot more focus on the pure history of the Creek and their black members who haven’t been officially part of the tribe since an overhaul of membership rules made in 1979.
That being said, I did the history to be oddly light in parts. One particular example that stands out in my mind was how the Creek Civil War received just a few sentences. I also admittedly found Gayle’s phrasing to be a little repetitive at points. Overall though, I found it to be an informative read, and great not just for its ability to get me thinking more on noteworthy subjects, but for helping tell a marginalized people’s story.
I quite enjoyed author Caleb Gayle’s examination on issues of race, identity, and white supremacy viewed through the lens of the Black Creeks. We Refuse to Forget actually ended up discussing a much wider scope than anticipated, as I originally expected a lot more focus on the pure history of the Creek and their black members who haven’t been officially part of the tribe since an overhaul of membership rules made in 1979.
That being said, I did the history to be oddly light in parts. One particular example that stands out in my mind was how the Creek Civil War received just a few sentences. I also admittedly found Gayle’s phrasing to be a little repetitive at points. Overall though, I found it to be an informative read, and great not just for its ability to get me thinking more on noteworthy subjects, but for helping tell a marginalized people’s story.
January 8, 2024
A book that opened my eyes to a side of American history that I otherwise would never had known about. The book challenges the reader to see individuals in a far broader sense that what we currently accept as an American society. At first it took me some time to get into the history of it Al in part one but after about page 50 I really started to become fascinated by all that was here. A complex and rich book.
February 12, 2023
“Imagine having to find blood that doesn’t exist—not because your father isn’t Creek, but because blood quantum was an arbitrary maneuver engineered by white men to determine how little land Indigenous people could keep. The goal was to disempower these people and their society… This moment showed Ron that blood quantum wasn’t science, it was thinly veiled racism that propped up a colonialist way of separating people to promote the economic and social interests of white America.”
TITLE—We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power
AUTHOR—Caleb Gayle
PUBLISHED—2022
PUBLISHER—Riverhead Books
GENRE—literary nonfiction
SETTING—the united states
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Black & Creek american history, systemic racism, racecraft, & white supremacy, shared communal strategies vs individual competitive strategies for survival, the intrinsic and intentional injustices of u.s. government structures, US Civil War, Trail of Tears, the Creek Nation in Oklahoma, cultural-, national- & self-identity, North Tulsa & Black Wall Street, the Dawes Act, allotment & enrollment, genealogy, radical remembering
“It is difficult to know true freedom when its boundaries are established by an oppressor. But that is the story of the Creek, and the stories of the Black and the Brown. The reason the Creek identity will always encompass the narrative of Indigenous and Black survival is that they share an oppressor.”
My thoughts:
I binged this book in like two days, I couldn’t put it down. The story-telling structure of the book was actually one that I almost always struggle with as it was very interwoven and jumped around chronologically a lot in order to best drive home the book’s project, so while I had some trouble following all the author’s points in the moment, by the end of the book it all came together so perfectly that I’m still thinking about how well done this book was.
I was particularly impressed with how such a seemingly niche historical subject was actually revealed to be a perfect case study for some of the most far-reaching and important themes in american social justice concerns and initiatives in the present day. I definitely think I need to buy a copy for myself to reread and annotate.
“There’s a simple reason Black lives are omitted from American history: the presence of Black lives in our history always indicts white America for generating prosperity on the backs of its own people. Black existence and success shatter the illusion that Americans are exceptional and that our ascent has been attained without keeping some of us down.”
I would recommend this book to all readers. It’s really not a dense work of nonfiction at all and it’s kind of short too so I think it would be both a quick and highly rewarding read for anyone. This book is best read while considering the wider implications of the subject matter beyond the specific individuals and events discussed.
Final note: So happy I accidentally waited until Black history month to read this book (I originally checked it out in November 😅) as it was a top tier selection for this time of year. 😚👌🏻
“They refuse to forget, no matter how easy it is to do so. No matter how simple life could be if they accepted their Blackness without its former residence in the Nation that once accepted them, they are fighting for an identity, a complete identity. And they’re asking all of us to do what often seems too radical for America: remember.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
CW // genocide, racism, white supremacy, lynching, race riots, colonialism (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING, by Ibram X. Kendi
- CRAZY BRAVE, by Joy Harjo
- THE SUM OF US, by Heather McGhee—TBR
June 26, 2022
We refuse to forget is a rally to remember and keep sharing our history. Our Black history. What do we do when America tells Black people we are not entitled to anything because we are Black, because we are the descendants of slaves? We remember and we keep sharing our history. What do we do when America says slavery is in the past, we have moved on, there was the Civil Rights movement? We remember and we keep sharing our history.
This is what Caleb Gayle has put forth in "We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power" Black people who are "fully Black and fully Creek" being denied their Indigenous ancestry. Caleb traces this story from Cow Tom to the Tulsa Race Massacre through current day. What happens when we refuse to forget who we are?
"But in America, unless you're a white, binary, cisgender man - in other words, a straight white guy with some money or land whose identity and rights have never been on a referendum or on a court docket - your existence is protest and your decision to remember is radical."
This is what Caleb Gayle has put forth in "We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power" Black people who are "fully Black and fully Creek" being denied their Indigenous ancestry. Caleb traces this story from Cow Tom to the Tulsa Race Massacre through current day. What happens when we refuse to forget who we are?
"But in America, unless you're a white, binary, cisgender man - in other words, a straight white guy with some money or land whose identity and rights have never been on a referendum or on a court docket - your existence is protest and your decision to remember is radical."
January 19, 2023
Gayle tells the story of the Creeks, including Black folks who came to be Creek either through joinging as runaways, capture, or through being owned as enslaved persons. Along the way Gayle tells the story of how Americans have used race to maintain power, keep some groups subjugated, or to split a group like the Creek in more recent years.
Using the Black Creeks as an example, Gayle explores how newly freed enslaved folks and groups may have developed differently if they had received land after the Civil War. Black Creeks capitalized on their "Creekness" to receive land allotments and payments, allowing many to build their wealth, allowing them to pass wealth to their children and grandchildren.
Gayle recounts the accomplishments and struggles of the Black Creeks both in the past, and now in the present as they fight to restore their tribal membership. Gayle does and excellent job of recounting this and placing it within the broader context of American history.
Using the Black Creeks as an example, Gayle explores how newly freed enslaved folks and groups may have developed differently if they had received land after the Civil War. Black Creeks capitalized on their "Creekness" to receive land allotments and payments, allowing many to build their wealth, allowing them to pass wealth to their children and grandchildren.
Gayle recounts the accomplishments and struggles of the Black Creeks both in the past, and now in the present as they fight to restore their tribal membership. Gayle does and excellent job of recounting this and placing it within the broader context of American history.
January 27, 2023
An account of one person's journey of discovery of identity, winding through the intertwined histories of the Creek Nation and white enslavement (and its aftermath) of Black persons.
I would recommend reading the last Part first. To me, it was the most powerfully written, and it can provide a succinct roadmap to important events and their significance - a roadmap that can be helpful in navigating earlier parts of the book.
Reading this at the moment that the governor or Florida is on a crusade to eliminate Black history as viewed from a Black perspective, and to eliminate Black history entirely when it conflicts with white narratives on slavery, Jim Crow, &c, reading this book sets off flashes of recognition and insight.
The historical identity the author discovers is one that has experienced the alienation of racialization and racism twice: once by white supremacy, and once by contemporary Creek leaders' efforts to separate and dilute the identity of "Black Creeks."
I would recommend reading the last Part first. To me, it was the most powerfully written, and it can provide a succinct roadmap to important events and their significance - a roadmap that can be helpful in navigating earlier parts of the book.
Reading this at the moment that the governor or Florida is on a crusade to eliminate Black history as viewed from a Black perspective, and to eliminate Black history entirely when it conflicts with white narratives on slavery, Jim Crow, &c, reading this book sets off flashes of recognition and insight.
The historical identity the author discovers is one that has experienced the alienation of racialization and racism twice: once by white supremacy, and once by contemporary Creek leaders' efforts to separate and dilute the identity of "Black Creeks."
November 29, 2024
“I didn’t realize that the piece I would eventually write for the Guardian would lead me on a journey that reconfigured my notions of identity, race, and belonging…in telling you about the place that became my home, I can tell you about America, and how America fashions its identity. If this story has shown me anything, it’s that there’s nothing simple about who you are, or where you come from. We are all beautifully complex and there’s nothing more American than struggling to fit all that complexity into boxes you did not create in the first place.”
Such an important perspective for Indian country today.
In the wake of “researchers” (like she who must not be named) looking to out “pretendians” this highlights the many problems with solely looking at the Dawes Rolls when determining indigeneity.
How divisive the government needs us to be in order to maintain the little bland boxes they’ve placed us all in…
Such an important perspective for Indian country today.
In the wake of “researchers” (like she who must not be named) looking to out “pretendians” this highlights the many problems with solely looking at the Dawes Rolls when determining indigeneity.
How divisive the government needs us to be in order to maintain the little bland boxes they’ve placed us all in…
July 2, 2023
This book has so much to teach the reader. As a person living in two different areas of Georgia that were Creek many years ago, I have a deeper appreciation for Creek history and connections to Georgia.
The book could benefit from some type of family tree outline and a linear timeline for easy reference. Gayle jumps around a good bit, which garnered criticism from reviewers in other places. At first I disagreed, but the more I read, the kore I came around to agreeing.
The information here is important to understanding the Creek people, their culture, legal system, racism within their nation, and how they interact with the US government.
The book could benefit from some type of family tree outline and a linear timeline for easy reference. Gayle jumps around a good bit, which garnered criticism from reviewers in other places. At first I disagreed, but the more I read, the kore I came around to agreeing.
The information here is important to understanding the Creek people, their culture, legal system, racism within their nation, and how they interact with the US government.
September 13, 2022
A compelling, highly engaging and painful read. It made me realize, again, what a narrow slice of history I was taught. And how white washed that history was. The concepts of racial identity and exclusion, and the role of white supremacy in defining how Americans are labeled are unpacked and excoriated in this carefully researched book.
Told through the eyes of the author as he seeks to come to terms with his own history as a Black, Jamaican, American. A must read.
Told through the eyes of the author as he seeks to come to terms with his own history as a Black, Jamaican, American. A must read.
November 13, 2022
Caleb Gayle goes into something that isn't talked about much in US History - the intersection of Black and Indigenous people and what it means in identity. In Oklahoma, the two histories are intertwined, yet the Creeks have revoked tribal citizenship to Black former citizens. In doing so, they follow the structures of white supremacy in excluding Black people who had lived and contributed to Creek life and society. This work will open eyes on the complexity of race and identity in this country.
April 24, 2023
This is the second book in a row that, thanks to the new and "improved" Goodreads, I want to exactly half-star but can't.
And, as with the previous one, I'm going downside on a 2.5 star book.
One whopper misstatement in the first page of Chapter 1. Sorry, Cochise, and no apology for the snark, but Indian Territory was part of the United States in 1861-65. The only Civil War battles fought outside the US were naval battles on the high seas. Or, if you’re basing this claim on the idea that Indian nations aren’t part of the United States? Also wrong.
There’s a bit of patronizing before that: The statement that many people who say “I’ve got some Indian” don’t know the history behind that.
Halfway through, misses the irony that the author of the Curtis Act was then-Congressman Charles Curtis, with his own convoluted ethnic history and self-relationship, though he reportedly largely disliked the final version.
In describing the Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, he doesn’t note that a great number of American Indian tribes either reject blood quantum entirely or at a minimum don’t use it as the only definition of tribal citizenship. Also, though the book is just about Creeks, doesn’t note that tribes that are not federally recognized are ineligible for the certificate. This High Country News story offers a lot more insight on blood quantum issues, in this long piece.
As for Cow Tom’s early history? All sorts of Black news and history sites say he was a slave. Gayle mentions that not at all.
As far as Chief Cox “booting” Freedmen? Racism isn’t necessarily the only explanation. Or even the primary one. Greed may be, given the larger “cleanup” of Creek rolls. See that link above on blood quantum issues. Not wanting to dilute federal dollars (or gaming dollars) is a big issue.
UPDATE: This Smithsonian Mag piece shows that there were also tensions between freedman Blacks of American Indian slavery already living in Oklahoma and freedman Blacks of White owners from southern states who migrated to Oklahoma. It also notes that among Oklahoma's Indians, support for blood quantum spread because of the spread of Jim Crow.
Finally, per other critical reviewers, Gayle does wander a fair degree.
And, as with the previous one, I'm going downside on a 2.5 star book.
One whopper misstatement in the first page of Chapter 1. Sorry, Cochise, and no apology for the snark, but Indian Territory was part of the United States in 1861-65. The only Civil War battles fought outside the US were naval battles on the high seas. Or, if you’re basing this claim on the idea that Indian nations aren’t part of the United States? Also wrong.
There’s a bit of patronizing before that: The statement that many people who say “I’ve got some Indian” don’t know the history behind that.
Halfway through, misses the irony that the author of the Curtis Act was then-Congressman Charles Curtis, with his own convoluted ethnic history and self-relationship, though he reportedly largely disliked the final version.
In describing the Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, he doesn’t note that a great number of American Indian tribes either reject blood quantum entirely or at a minimum don’t use it as the only definition of tribal citizenship. Also, though the book is just about Creeks, doesn’t note that tribes that are not federally recognized are ineligible for the certificate. This High Country News story offers a lot more insight on blood quantum issues, in this long piece.
As for Cow Tom’s early history? All sorts of Black news and history sites say he was a slave. Gayle mentions that not at all.
As far as Chief Cox “booting” Freedmen? Racism isn’t necessarily the only explanation. Or even the primary one. Greed may be, given the larger “cleanup” of Creek rolls. See that link above on blood quantum issues. Not wanting to dilute federal dollars (or gaming dollars) is a big issue.
UPDATE: This Smithsonian Mag piece shows that there were also tensions between freedman Blacks of American Indian slavery already living in Oklahoma and freedman Blacks of White owners from southern states who migrated to Oklahoma. It also notes that among Oklahoma's Indians, support for blood quantum spread because of the spread of Jim Crow.
Finally, per other critical reviewers, Gayle does wander a fair degree.
February 12, 2025
I’m giving this 3 stars not because I didn’t like it, but because I hardly retained any of it 😅
Nonfiction isn’t usually my thing, so I found it hard to focus on the story, but I wanted to challenge myself to listen to something different.
It was interesting to hear about how black Americans are intertwined with the Creek Nation and the history of their people. It was also interesting because some local history was referenced.
Nonfiction isn’t usually my thing, so I found it hard to focus on the story, but I wanted to challenge myself to listen to something different.
It was interesting to hear about how black Americans are intertwined with the Creek Nation and the history of their people. It was also interesting because some local history was referenced.
Read
June 10, 2025This book serves as a powerful accusation against all those in history who have used racism to propel themselves higher by pushing down anyone who those in power consider other. Gayle does a masterful job in this concise historical narrative laying bare the heinous facts and loudly declaring that this history and all the people part of it will refuse to forget. My words pale in comparison. Read the book.
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