Description
Book SynopsisThe American civil rights movement represents one of the most remarkable social revolutions in all of world history. While no one would discount the significance of the leadership of Martin Luther King and others, we should also recognize that the fight could not have been waged without the countless foot soldiers in the trenches. As an important corrective to the traditional great man studies, these essays emphasize the importance of grassroots actions and individual agency in the effort to bring about national civil renewal. These biographies assert the importance of individuals on the local level working towards civil rights and the influence that this primarily African-American movement had on others including La Raza, the Native American Movement, feminism, and gay rights. Through engaging biographies of such varied individuals as Abraham Galloway, Ida B. Wells, James K. Vardaman, Jose Angel Gutierrez, and Sylvia Rivera, Glisson widens the scope of most Civil Rights studies beyond
Trade ReviewGlisson's volume convincingly argues that the civil rights movement was not always top-down and that local grassroots organizers deserve recognition from scholars and the general public alike. * The Journal Of Mississippi History *
Susan Glisson has assembled a stellar cast of scholars to tell the stories of individual Americans engaged in the struggle for human rights. This remarkable collection of essays is at once inspiring and sobering. It demonstrates that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things. But it also reminds us of the distance still to be traveled before this country lives up to its democratic promise. -- John Dittmer, DePauw University
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Human Tradition and Civil Rights Part I: Hope is Born Chapter 1: Abraham Galloway: Prophet of Biracial America Chapter 2: Homer Plessy: Unsuccessful Challenger to Jim Crow Chapter 3: James K. Vardaman: "A Vote for White Supremacy" and the Politics of Racism Part II: Should We Stay or Should We Go? Chapter 4: Ida B. Wells: Higher Law and Community Justice Chapter 5: A. Philip Randolph: Labor and the New Black Politics Chapter 6: Lucy Randolph Mason: "The Rest of Us" Part III: Awakenings Chapter 7: Amzie Moore: The Biographical Roots of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi Chapter 8: James Lawson: The Nashville Civil Rights Movement Chapter 9: Charles Sherrod and Martin Luther King Jr.: Mass Action and Nonviolence in Albany Part IV: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle Chapter 10: Diane Nash: "Courage Displaces Fear, Love Transforms Hate": Civil Rights Activism and the Commitment to Nonviolence Chapter 11: Mae Bertha Carter: These Tiny Fingers Chapter 12: Robert F. Williams: "Black Power" and the Roots of the African American Freedom Struggle Part V: The Borning Movement Chapter 13: Judith Brown: Freedom Fighter Chapter 14: José Angel Gutiérrez: La Raza Unida and Scholarship for Social Justice Chapter 15: Leonard Peltier: A Small Part of a Much Larger Story Chapter 16: Sylvia Rivera: Fighting in Her Heels: Stonewall, Civil Rights, and Liberation
