In the early 1960's, tired of reprisals for attempting to register to vote, Selma's black community began to protest. The struggle received nationwide attention when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a voting rights march in January, 1965, and was attacked by a segregationist. In February, the shooting of an unarmed demonstrator by an Alabama state trooper inspired a march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. The march got off to a horrific start on March 7 as law officers attacked peaceful demonstrators. Broadcast throughout the world, the violence attracted widespread outrage and spurred demonstrators to complete the march at any cost. On March 25, after several setbacks, protesters completed the fifty-four-mile march to a cheering crowd of 25,000 supporters.
"One of the most decorated nonfiction writers in the field brings his style to a well-told story of the struggle for voting rights in the American South. As Freedman begins his narrative, student activism had propelled teachers and other middle-class blacks to get involved. The death of an unarmed demonstrator drove organizers to plan a march from Selma to the state's capital, Montgomery an attemp
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the 1965 march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Freedman (The Boston Tea Party) delivers a thorough account of the context and events leading up to and through this momentous protest. The book's eight chapters pull readers into the decades-long struggle via clear, concise storytelling and myriad quotes from participants, many of them y
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"[T]his latest historical narrative transports readers to Alabama to experience another significant turning point in the civil rights movement. The story opens in January 1965, when 105 black teachers attempted to register to vote but were met with violence on the courthouse steps in Selma, Alabama...The major role played by Selma's courageous teenagers and children makes this a particularly
