Description
Book SynopsisThe Civil Rights Movement was among the most important historical developments of the twentieth century and one of the most remarkable mass movements in American history. Not only did it decisively change the legal and political status of African Americans, but it prefigured as well the moral premises and methods of struggle for other historically oppressed groups seeking equal standing in American society. And, yet, despite a vague, sometimes begrudging recognition of its immense import, more often than not the movement has been misrepresented and misunderstood. For many, a singular moment, frozen in time at the Lincoln Memorial, sums up much of what Americans and the world know about that remarkable decade of struggle. In The Civil Rights Movement: A Very Short Introduction, Thomas C. Holt provides an informed and nuanced understanding of the origins, character, and objectives of the mid-twentieth-century freedom struggle, privileging the aspirations and initiatives of the ordinary, grassroots people who made it. Holt conveys a sense of these developments as a social movement, one that shaped its participants even as they shaped it. He emphasizes the conditions of possibility that enabled the heroic initiatives of the common folk over those of their more celebrated leaders. This groundbreaking book reinserts the critical concept of movement back into our image and understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.
Trade ReviewEven readers well-versed in the subject will learn from Holt's close attention to lesser-known figures, events, and organizations. This well-informed history casts the civil rights struggle in a new light. * Publishers Weekly *
[This] concise but comprehensive history of the US civil rights movement pulls off an ambitious balancing act, placing the African-American fight for equality within its wider political and social context - all without losing sight of the campaigners on the frontline ... a hugely humanistic overview. * BBC History Revealed *
An essential and readable primer on the mid-20th-century civil rights movement... Holt adroitly traces the evolution of activism throughout time and across regions. * The New York Times Book Review *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: Carrie's Rebellion Chapter 1: Before Montgomery Chapter 2: Communities organizing for change: New South cities Chapter 3: Communities organizing for change along the New South-Old South divide Chapter 4: Organizing in "the American Congo": Mississippi's Freedom Summer and its aftermath Chapter 5: Freedom movements in the North and the quest for Black power Chapter 6: Legacies: "Freedom is a constant struggle" References Further Reading Index
