New York State Writers Institute's video: Caleb Gayle author of We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks American Identity Power

Caleb Gayle, is the author of We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power (2022), a landmark work that presents the untold history of Native Americans and African Americans in Oklahoma. In praise of Gayle’s writing, Kiese Laymon said the book, “reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we’ve seldom seen or imagined.” Jacqueline Woodson called it, “An important part of American history told with a clear-eyed and forceful brilliance.” Gayle also wrote the much-discussed May 25, 2021 cover story for the New York Times Magazine on the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The event, moderated by NYS Writers Institute Assistant Director Mark Koplik, took place at the University at Albany on Oct. 25, 2022. Co-sponsored by the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education.