A few red drops : the Chicago Race Riot of 1919

This mesmerizing narrative nonfiction draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of an explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture.

Coretta Scott King Award winner * Carter G. Woodson Book Award from the National Council for the Social Studies

On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one.

Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations.

A Few Red Drops is "readable, compelling history," The Horn Book wrote, adding that the book uses "meticulously chosen archival photos, documents, newspaper clippings, and quotes from multiple primary sources."

Includes archival photos and prints, source notes, bibliography, and an index.

Catalyst. The beach ; A time to reap -- First whispers. Freedom fight ; Self reliance ; White Negroes ; Waste matters ; Parallel universes ; A stone's throw -- Up from the south. A higher call ; The northern fever ; A real place for Negroes ; A job, any job ; Full to bursting ; Respectability and respect -- Reaping the whirlwind. Tensions rising ; Last straws ; Race riot ; Ratcheting up ; Point counterpoint ; Moment of truth.