The River of No Return: The Autobiography of a Black Militant and the Life and Death of SNCC

This is the autobiography of Cleveland Sellers, who became deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement during the early 1960's. More than the compelling story of the authors ever growing militancy, The River of No Return is the completely candid, inside account of the movement itself, particularly SNCC, where Sellers, along with Stokely Carmichael, rose to a top position. It is all here: the early sit-ins, the days of terror in Mississippi, the search for Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, the Selma Campaign, the birth of Black Power, the Orangeburg massacre and the death of SNCC itself. And there are fascinating portraits of the movement's leaders: Bob Moses, John Lewis, Julian Bond, James Forman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Carmichael and Rap Brown. At the end of this profoundly meaningful and evocative book, Cleveland Sellers writes: "We will not stop because we can't. I take solace in the face of the hardships before me because I know that we are right and those who oppress us and our people are wrong. Most important, I believe that Dr. King was eminently correct when he said, `The moral arm of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' " Robert Terrell, Cleveland Sellers' collaborator, is a former journalist and is presently an assistant professor at Saint Mary's College of California.