This book traces the story of the civil rights movement through the written and spoken words of those who participated in it. It includes both classic texts, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech and his Letter from Birmingham Jail, and lesser-known gems, such as Robert Moses' Letter from a Mississippi Jail Cell and James Lawson's address to SNCC's 1960 founding meeting.
This is a documentary collection that has been needed for a long time. The burgeoning interest in the civil rights movement argues for such a work, and the need to have the experience of the movement in the participants' own words demands it. Words counted during the civil rights movement, and Levy's collection . . . is the best and most accessible. Randall M. Miller Professor of History Director of American Studies Saint Joseph's University
Drawing on research by recent scholars, the volume emphasizes the role that ordinary people played in the struggle for freedom and equality and also displays the breadth of the civil rights movement. It contains documents written by members of all the well-known civil rights organizations: SCLC, NAACP, SNCC, CORE, and the Black Panther Party. It includes pieces written by independent and relatively unknown figures, such as Jo Ann Gibson Robinson and Sheyann Webb. In addition, it includes documents demonstrating the ferocity of white resistance to black equality, such as George Wallace's 1963 Inaugural Address. The book fills a void, providing a balanced single-volume reader on the civil rights movement. It will be valuable to all those interested in Afro-American history, race relations, the 1960s, and recent American history.