Angel Of Greenwood

Monday, May 30, 1921; The Day Before

Isaiah tells his mom he loves her and appreciates her, which he feels like he doesn’t tell her often enough. He leaves to walk to Miss Ferris’s and stops by Mrs. Tate’s to apologize for Muggy’s rude words. He says he should have punched Muggy long ago. Mrs. Tate says it brought her joy when Isaiah punched him nonetheless.

Isaiah arrives at Miss Ferris’s. Mr. Morris has made the new book carrier and installed it. There are separate compartments labeled by age group. Miss Ferris sends them to deliver books.

Angel reflects on having her first kiss with Isaiah. They ride to the part of Greenwood where kids don’t get formal education. They find a group of young girls sitting in a circle and introduce themselves. There is a schoolhouse, but Angel notes that it’s inadequate and would not be a productive learning environment. Angel and Isaiah read The Secret Garden to the girls and discuss it. They sit for three hours together until ominous clouds gather overhead. Angel’s father previously warned that these clouds mean trouble.

Isaiah is reading when his mother tells him it’s time for the Greenwood Memorial Day parade. The parade features the high school band, which Isaiah tried to join as a flutist, but Muggy made fun of him until he quit. The parade also includes baton twirlers, a drumline, and soldiers, whom Isaiah salutes, remembering his father. His mother and Angel salute them, too, and stay even when it starts raining.

Later, when the parade is over and the rain has stopped, Angel and Isaiah wander around. Isaiah laments the fate of his father as well as the Black soldiers who survived but returned to be ridiculed or abused by the people on whose behalf they just fought. Angel brings up her dad again, then apologizes for changing the subject when Isaiah was talking about his dad. Isaiah tells Angel he loves her, and they kiss.

Tuesday, May 31, 1921

This chapter is narrated in the first person by Greenwood itself. It was built by Black people and, for a long time, thrived. However, yesterday, the scream of a white woman changed things. In response to her scream, newspaper articles were written, and a mob gathered momentum. Now, the mob is about to burst.

Wednesday, June 1, 1921; 1:00 a.m.

Up late and wanting to get closer to Angel, Isaiah has been reading books to understand Angel’s argument opposing Du Bois. He’s happy that her argument is strong and feels that it may be valid. Angel believes Du Bois’s approach doesn’t consider the need for compassion and understanding of the historical and personal trauma of Black people. She feels that it’s hard to take such an immediate and bold approach to change as Du Bois does, given the degree of historical and personal pain that persists. Isaiah understands this perspective, although he hasn’t felt the same degree of pain or terror as someone like Booker T. Washington.

Isaiah is about to start writing a poem about kissing Angel in his journal when he smells trees burning outside. He looks out the window and sees smoke and flames in the distance. He hears screams so loud he’s surprised he didn’t hear them earlier. He smells Mrs. Tate’s juniper burning as well. Far off, there’s a group of men with torches approaching.

Wednesday, June 1, 1921; 1:00 a.m.

Angel is also up late, rereading W. E. B. Du Bois in hopes of understanding Isaiah better and thinking about the kisses she shared with him. She wishes she had told him she loved him back because she does. Everyone has been asking her about her relationship with Isaiah, but it’s not in a disapproving way like it was with Deacon Yancey. Since he stood up to Muggy, people seem to have changed their attitudes about Isaiah. He’s also been nicer and more helpful to others since then.

Angel notices a strange light entering her bedroom through the window as if flames are nearby. She goes to the window to investigate and sees a man’s eye staring at her. She screams and runs toward her parents’ bedroom.

Isaiah goes into his mom’s bedroom, where she’s asleep. He decides to gather supplies while giving her two more minutes to sleep. He gets his father’s duffel bag and collects some food and family photographs. He looks at his home, sad that this is likely the last time he’ll see it.

He wakes up his mom and shows her what’s happening outside: Greenwood is being destroyed. She asks where they can flee. Isaiah isn’t sure, but he looks outside to see where the flames currently are. They’re near the houses of Mrs. Tate, Vice Principal Anniston, and Angel. His mom says it could already be too late to save them. He gets some fabric to cover their faces from the smoke, then plans to leave with his mom soon.

Angel wakes her parents up, panicked about the man staring through her window and the fires outside. As soon as her parents wake up, the man appears behind her, having found his way into the house. He tells them it’s time to leave. They ask him where they’re going. He says if they don’t leave, he’ll burn their house down while they’re still in it. Angel’s mother asks Angel to help her lift her father, but he pleads for them to leave him so they can run more easily and save themselves. Angel’s mother refuses to do this. Both of Angel’s parents try to convince her to obey the other.

Angel’s father smiles at her with joy, and she’s amazed at how he can create joy when there is none to be had. His joy makes her decide to obey him and leave him behind so that she and her mother will have a better chance of surviving this riot. Angel and her mom tell Angel’s father they love him, and the man says it’s time for them to leave. Angel’s father grabs the man’s torch and burns his face with it. Angel and her mom run away.

Isaiah tells his mom they should take shelter at the church. A lot of people will probably go there, and they can turn it into a safe haven. He doesn’t know if this will really work, but it’s the best plan he can think of. They leave their home forever, and Isaiah prays that a tree he used to climb as a child doesn’t burn down. Passing by other houses, Isaiah decides he needs to wake people up so they can escape before intruders arrive to burn them. He tells his mom to go ahead to the church and start setting up and helping people.

Angel’s mother is inconsolable and collapses on the ground. Neighbors are wandering around wondering where to go, and some white people are wandering around, too. Angel feels terrible for “killing” her dad and worries that her mom hates her now. She hears baby Michael crying and goes to him. Mrs. Nichelle asks where to go, and Angel says the church. Angel tells her mom to go to the church as well, but Angel goes the opposite way, to help others. Angel’s mom says she loves her.

Isaiah attempts to wake up an elderly woman named Mrs. Edward, who is hard of hearing, by knocking aggressively on her door and yelling. She doesn’t wake up, but people in nearby houses do, and when they look outside, they all immediately see the problem and start preparing to flee their homes. Isaiah feels guilty because he and Muggy once blew up Mrs. Edward’s mailbox but never got caught. Now, he wants to repent for his past transgression by saving her life from the mob. She still won’t wake up.