Description
Book SynopsisThe record of civil disobedience by African Americans, which George and Willene Hendrick recount in Why Not Every Man?, begins soon after slaves were brought legally to the American colonies: they began to run away. Through the years of the abolitionists, the struggle against the Fugitive Slave Act, opposition to Jim Crow laws, and the emergence of the civil rights movement, blacks continued the peaceful protest of their inequality and lack of freedom. In addition to describing these often forgotten episodes, the Hendricks show how the idea of civil disobedience, first suggested in America by Henry David Thoreau, crossed oceans to influence Mohandas K. Gandhi, whose thinking in turn attracted a young divinity student named Martin Luther King, Jr. The impact of these ideas was to be profound, forming a central tenet in Dr. King's movement against segregation and for the civil rights of black Americans. The record of civil disobedience in the service of African Americans is not without its failures, but overall it has been a powerful weapon in their quest for a share of the American dream. This is a succinct history of that story.
Trade ReviewAgain the Hendricks have produced a powerful work. Their important new book is welcome and timely for a broad audience. -- John David Smith, professor, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The authors ably interweave the historical pre-conditions of nonviolent civil disobedience into a tapestry that forms the foundation for the modern civil rights movement. -- Vernon Ford * Booklist *
A quick introduction to antislavery or black civil rights thinking. -- Thomas J. Davis * Library Journal *
Smoothly written and powerful . . . an invaluable resource. * Kliatt *
An excellent history of the idea of civil disobedience evolves within the civil rights framework. -- Diane C. Donovan, editor, Midwest Book Review * Midwest Book Review *
George Hendrick and his wife, Willene, tackle a difficult subject with passion and clarity. * Illinois Alumni Magazine *
