Victor Luckerson, UA graduate and former editor for The Crimson White (CW), has been awarded the Muesum of African American History’s (MAAH) Top Stone Book Award for Built From the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street. Luckerson was recognized on October 10 during MAAH’s presentations in African Meeting House on MAAH’s Beacon Hill Campus.
MAAH presents the Stone Book Award to nonfiction writers whose work reveals the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans. They established the award in 2018 to encourage the exploration of “exemplary contemporary scholarship and writing from within the field of African American history and culture.”
“It is gratifying to see the book take on a life of its own” said Luckerson, “The awards give me an another opportunity to highlight the people in the book and their stories.”
Built From the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street focuses on a multigenerational story of the community of the Greenwood District as a heart of Black life and business and it’s fight for survival against white bigotry and anti-Black policies. It was named a 2023 book of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post and won the Lillian Smith Book Award and Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
“Built From the Fire provides a human perspective on the tragedy. It shows a well rounded perspective of their experience there, not just the trauma and destruction” Luckerson stated, “I encourage people as they read the book to consider how the forces presented there – racial violence, urban renewal, highway construction – played out in their communities.”
He was a technology and business reporter at TIME and The Ringer, a sports and pop culture website and podcast network. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired and Smithsonian. Currently, Luckerson is a public speaker, presenting his research about Greenwood and America’s Black Wallstreet.
Luckerson graduated from UA in 2012 and is the second Black editor in The Crimson White’s history. The Crimson White is The University of Alabama’s student-run, editorially independent newspaper. Originally a weekly publication, then a thrice weekly publication, the CW moved to a newsletter and special print edition format in 2020. The newspaper has won several awards over the years, including the Associated Press’ Pacemaker Award in 1977, 2015 and 2019. First published in 1894, the CW celebrated its 130th anniversary this year.
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If you would like to learn more about Victor Luckerson and his work, check out his website.