Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century

A noted civil rights historian examines Louisville as a cultural border city where the black freedom struggle combined northern and southern tactics. Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. This border identity has shaped the city's race relations throughout its history. Louisville's black citizens did not face entrenched restrictions against voting and civic engagement, yet the city still bore the marks of Jim Crow segregation in public accommodations. In response to Louisville's unique blend of racial problems, activists employed northern models of voter mobilization and lobbying, as well as methods of civil disobedience usually seen in the South. They also crossed traditional barriers between, the movements for racial and economic justice to unite in common action. In Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South, Tracy E. K'Meyer provides a groundbreaking analysis of Louisville's uniquely, hybrid approach to the civil rights movement. Defining a border as, a space, where historical patterns and social concerns overlap, K'Meyer argues that broad coalitions of Louisvillians waged long-term, interconnected battles for social justice.

A sociologist and oral historian explores the interwoven histories of sports and civil rights activism in this extensively researched volume. In 1968, noted sociologist Harry Edwards established the Olympic Project for Human Rights, calling for a boycott of that year's games in Mexico City as a demonstration against racial discrimination. Though the boycott never materialized, Edwards's ideas struck a chord with athletes and incited African American Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos to protest by raising their black-gloved fists on the podium after receiving their medals. Sidelined draws upon a wide range of historical materials and more than forty oral histories with athletes and administrators to explore how the black athletic revolt used professional and college sports to promote the struggle for civil rights in the late 1960s. By examining activists' successes and failures in promoting racial equality on one of the most public stages in the world, Henderson sheds new light on an often-overlooked subject and gives voice to those who fought for civil rights both on the field and off.

On August 28, 1955, fourteen-year-old Chicago native Emmett Till was brutally beaten to death for allegedly flirting with a white woman at a grocery store in Money, Mississippi. Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were acquitted of murdering Till and dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River, and later that year, an all-white grand jury chose not to indict the men on kidnapping charges. A few months later, Bryant and Milam admitted to the crime in an interview with the national media. They were never convicted. Although Till's body was mutilated, his mother ordered that his casket remain open during the funeral service so that the country could observe the results of racially motivated violence in the Deep South. Media attention focused on the lynching fanned the flames of regional tension and impelled many individuals - including Rosa Parks - to become vocal activists for racial equality. In this innovative study, Darryl Mace explores media coverage of Till's murder and provides a close analysis of the regional and racial perspectives that emerged. He investigates the portrayal of the trial in popular and black newspapers in Mississippi and the South, documents post-trial reactions, and examines Till's memorialization in the press to highlight the media's role in shaping regional and national opinions. Provocative and compelling, In Remembrance of Emmett Till provides a valuable new perspective on one of the sparks that ignited the civil rights movement.

Growing up in Virginia during the Great Depression, James E. Jackson and Esther Cooper Jackson understood that opportunities came differently for blacks and whites, men and women, rich and poor. They devoted their lives to the black freedom movement and saw a path to racial equality through the Communist Party. This political affiliation would come to define not only their activism but also the course of their marriage as the Cold War years unfolded. In this dual biography, Sara Rzeszutek examines the couple's political involvement as well as the evolution of their personal and public lives in the face of ever-shifting contexts. She documents the Jacksons' contributions to the early civil rights movement, discussing their time leading the Southern Negro Youth Congress, which laid the groundwork for youth activists in the 1960s; their writings in periodicals such as Political Affairs; and their editorial involvement in The Worker and the civil rights magazine Freedomways. Drawing upon correspondence, organizational literature, and interviews with the Jacksons themselves, Haviland presents a portrait of a remarkable pair who lived during a transformative period of American history. Their story offers a vital narrative of persistence, love, and activism across the long arc of the black freedom movement.

A veteran of the civil right movement recounts the events of Freedom Summer in Mississippi through oral histories, personal reflections and photos. The world's eyes were on Mississippi during the summer of 1964, when civil rights activists launched an ambitious African American voter registration project and were, met with violent resistance from white supremacists. Sue Sojourner and her husband arrived in Holmes County, Mississippi, in the wake of this historic time, known as Freedom Summer. From September 1964 until her departure from the state in 1969, Sojourner collected an incredible number of documents, oral histories, and photographs chronicling the dramatic events she witnessed. In Thunder of Freedom, written with Cheryl Reitan, Sojourner presents a fascinating account of one of the civil rights movements most active and broad-based community organizing operations in the South. Sojourner shares her personal experiences as well as insights into race relations in the 1960s South, providing a unique look at the struggle for rights and equality in Mississippi. Illustrated with selections from Sojourner's acclaimed catalog of photographs, this profound book tells the powerful, often intimate stories of ordinary people, who accomplished extraordinary things.

The definitive collection of speeches and writings by the labor leader, civil rights activist and founder of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In 1925, A. Philip Randolph became the first president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, America's first majority-Black labor union. It was a major achievement in a life dedicated to the causes of civil and workers' rights. A leading voice in the struggle for social justice, his powerful words served as, a bridge between African Americans and the labor movement. This volume documents Randolph's life and work through his own writings. It includes more than seventy published and unpublished pieces drawn from libraries, manuscript collections, and newspapers. The book is, organized thematically around Randolph's most significant activities: dismantling workplace inequality, expanding civil rights, confronting racial segregation, and building international coalitions. The editors provide a detailed biographical essay that helps to situate the speeches and writings collected in the book. In the absence of an autobiography, this volume offers the best available presentation of Randolph's ideas and arguments in his own words.

In this detailed memoir of political action, a civil rights volunteer recounts her experience with the MFDP during 1964's Freedom Summer. During the summer of 1964, hundreds of American college students descended on Mississippi to help the state's African American citizens register to vote. Student organizers, volunteers, and community members canvassed black neighborhoods to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a group that sought to give a voice to black Mississippians despite the terror and intimidation they faced. In For a Voice and the Vote, author Lisa Anderson Todd gives a fascinating insider's account of her experience volunteering in Greenville, Mississippi, when she participated in organizing the MFDP. The party provided political education, ran candidates for office, and offered participation in local and statewide meetings for blacks, who were, denied the vote. For Todd, it was an exciting, dangerous, and life-changing experience. Offering the first full account of the group's five days in Atlantic City, the book draws on primary sources, oral histories, and the author's personal interviews of individuals, who were supporters of the MFDP in 1964.

Without question, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the face of the civil rights revolution that reshaped the social and political landscape of the United States. Although many biographers and historians have examined Dr. King's activism, few have recognized the pivotal role that the people of Montgomery, Alabama, played in preparing him for leadership. King arrived in Montgomery as a virtually unknown doctoral student, but his activities there - from organizing the Montgomery bus boycott to building relationships with local activists such as Rufus Lewis, E. D. Nixon, and Virginia Durr - established him as the movement's most visible leader. Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader illustrates how the people of Montgomery influenced King as much as he influenced them. In Montgomery, brave citizens, both black and white, spearheaded a protest movement that also launched King's public ministry. Author Troy Jackson demonstrates that spending his formative years in the city of Montgomery gave King the skills and experience to become a hero to generations of Americans.

A study of the NAACP's activism in the cultural realm through creative projects from 1910 to the 1960s. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's oldest civil rights organization, having dedicated itself to the fight for racial equality since 1909. While the group helped achieve substantial victories in the courtroom, the struggle for civil rights extended beyond gaining political support. It also required changing social attitudes. The NAACP thus worked to alter existing prejudices through the production of art that countered racist depictions of African Americans, focusing its efforts not only on changing the attitudes of the White middle class, but also, on encouraging racial pride and a sense of identity in the Black community. Art for Equality explores an important and little-studied side of the NAACP's activism in the cultural realm. In openly supporting African American artists, writers, and musicians in their creative endeavors, the organization aimed to change the way the public viewed the Black community. By overcoming stereotypes and the belief of the majority that African Americans were physically, intellectually, and morally inferior to Whites, the NAACP believed it could begin to defeat racism. Illuminating important protests, from the fight against the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation to the production of anti-lynching art during the Harlem Renaissance, this insightful volume, examines the successes and failures of the NAACP's cultural campaign from 1910 to the 1960s. Exploring the roles of gender and class in shaping the association's patronage of the arts, Art for Equality offers an in-depth analysis of the social and cultural climate during a time of radical change in America.