"Violent Utopia’s findings shed a searching light on Oklahoman history but are not limited to or by it. Whilst humble enough to only define itself as a ‘minor contribution’ to the reparations movement, Violent Utopia’s great strength is an analytical dexterity that studiously balances the dialectical dance of anti-Black violence and Black freedom dreams."
- Thomas Cryer (LSE Review of Books) “This thought-provoking book is worth reading. It shows that much can be learned from studying Black communities from a critical race perspective.”
- Robert L. Boyd (Ethnic and Racial Studies) "Skillfully incorporates the tools of geography, ethnography, and history to investigate issues surrounding reparations and what they might accomplish for the African American community. . . . Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals."
(Choice) "Lewis's Violent Utopia offers a fresh and nuanced perspective on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and its legacies. ... The book is a stellar ethnohistorical model for scholars."
- Jajuan Johnson (Journal of Southern History) "Violent Utopia is not only a valuable and groundbreaking addition to the literature of Tulsa’s long-embattled African American community but also a thought-provoking study of history, memory, and identity that will be of considerable value to scholars studying present-day Black communities nationwide." - Scott Ellsworth (Journal of American History)
