We Shall Overcome: The History of the Civil Rights Movement as It Happened - Hardcover

Boyd, Herb

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 140220213X ISBN 13: 9781402202131

Publisher: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2004

Synopsis

In words, photos and on two audio CDs, witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America's civil rights movement

An entire generation of Americans faced the lynching of teenager Emmett Till, the murder of four girls at church, and the denial of basic liberties like voting rights, equal education and political representation. This is their story.

We Shall Overcome is a gripping chronicle of the words and voices of the civil rights movement. From stirring speeches to the voices of hate, this collection brings to life the battle for justice and equality that shook America to its core. We Shall Overcome brings you there--from the schools to the sit-ins, from Little Rock to Selma, from the pulpit to the marches.

American Book Award winning author Herb Boyd tells the dramatic stories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Ella Baker and activist groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Black Panthers.

In words, photos and on two accompanying audio CDs, you'll witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America's civil rights movement.

"With powerfully superb reporting Herb Boyd slams us back into the most grueling hours of Black America's bloody struggle for Civil Rights."--Gordon Parks, award-winning photographer, writer and filmmaker

"An indispensable window on history. Herb Boyd's dramatic evocation of the legendary civil rights struggle of the 1960s is at once dramatic history and engaging literature."--Paul Robeson, Jr.

"We Shall Overcome captures definitively the drama of the mighty social and spiritual movement that transformed America almost fifty years ago. Vivid, compelling, moving, inspiring, it brings alive the years of struggle and success, strife and hope, that led to the final triumph of justice for black Americans against Jim Crow. This is a gift to be cherished, an enduring reminder of the heroism of those women, men, and children who sacrificed even their lives that all of us might be free."--Arnold Rampersad, author of The Life of Langston Hughes, Days of Grace (with Arthur Ashe), and Jackie Robinson, Cognizant Dean for Humanities and Kimball Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University

"From the murder of Emmett Till to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Herb Boyd takes us on a intellectual and spiritual journey of what it has meant to be an African American resisting in America."--Sonia Sanchez, poet and author of the collections Shake Loose My Skin and Like Singing Coming Off Drums among others

About this title

From the Publisher

"With powerfully superb reporting Herb Boyd slams us back into the most grueling hours of Black America's bloody struggle for Civil Rights. Words, photographs and recorded voices are all there - all nurturing the true history of tragedy and triumph. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, The Black Panthers, Stokely Carmichael and other militants sing their wrath across the pages. Herb Boyd enhances their singing - by reacquainting us with the foul deeds of the KKK, or perhaps the murderers of Emmett Till. His book piles memories up in heaps - and history rises from its light. After reading it thoroughly I have given it a special place on my bookshelves." Gordon Parks - Award-winning photographer, writer and film maker.

About the Author

Herb Boyd is an award-winning author and journalist who has published eleven books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America--An Anthology, co-edited with Robert Allen, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. Boyd is also the author of Race and Resistance: African Americans in the 21st Century, The Harlem Reader and the forthcoming Sugar in Harlem, a biography of Sugar Ray Robinson. In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News. Boyd is also the National Editor of The Black World Today, one of the leading publications on the Internet, and he teaches African and African American History at the College of New Rochelle in Manhattan.

Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee have long been at the forefront of civil rights, in addition to their long list of credits on the stage and screen. Throughout their careers, they supported Martin Luther King Jr., participated in the March on Washington, eulogized Malcolm X, and have been active in social causes including sickle-cell disease research and black voting rights.

Davis made his Broadway debut in 1946 and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1994. He has appeared in such films as Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Grumpy Old Men, and Get on the Bus, and has directed five feature films. He received Emmy Award nominations for his work in Teacher, Teacher, King, and Miss Evers' Boys.

Dee grew up in Harlem and began her career as an actor, writer, and producer as a member of the American Negro Theatre. On Broadway, she has appeared in such plays as Jeb, A Raisin in the Sun, and Checkmates. Her film credits include No Way Out, The Jackie Robinson Story, and St. Louis Blues.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sourcebooks MediaFusion
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 140220213X
• ISBN 13: 9781402202131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272