Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America
by Russell Freedman (Author)
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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.
Fifty years ago, as the civil rights movement took hold, the attempts to ensure African-American access to the vote increasingly took center stage. A newly passed Civil Rights Act did not guarantee voting rights, so activists in the South continued to press for them at both the state and federal levels. The barriers to voting—poll taxes, literacy tests, limits on registration—were difficult to overcome. Physical abuse and financial intimidation also kept people from the polls. Activist churches were subject to firebombs and burning. Selma, Alabama, became a flashpoint. 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 attempt that resulted in “Bloody Sunday,” one of the single most violent moments of the movement, and served to prod action on the Voting Rights Act in Congress. Freedman’s meticulous research and elegant prose brings freshness to a story that has been told many times. Familiar figures populate the account, but they are joined by many lesser-known figures as well.
Richly illustrated, this deserves a place alongside other important depictions of this story. (timeline, bibliography, photo credits, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up--With the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 approaching, this book captures a significant struggle in history, focusing on the two years leading up to President Lyndon Johnson signing the act into law. Freedman gives readers the necessary context they need to understand the Civil Rights Movement and the importance of Selma, Alabama. Through short chapters, skilled, fluid writing, powerful photographs, and firsthand accounts of the clash between black and white Americans, Freedman has crafted an account of a crucial time in history; readers will easily be able to imagine that a grandfather or great-grandfather is telling this story. This well-organized work is ideal for research projects. Like Ann Bausum's Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement (National Geographic, 2013), this is a strong, engaging look at the subject. A first choice for libraries looking for titles on the Civil Rights Movement.--Jeni Tahaney, Duncanville High School Library, TX
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
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 young at the time. "Algebra gave way to activism," writes Freedman. "This explosion of teenage activism alarmed some parents and took the white authorities by surprise." The momentum-building narrative and often-graphic b&w photos captivate as they recount demonstrations big and small: from sit-ins and "wade-ins" (for desegregated beaches) to the well-known Selma schoolteachers' march and "Bloody Sunday" at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Freedman details day-by-day the culminating several-thousand-strong march to Montgomery, which spurred the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Current threats to the act are described in an epilogue. A timeline, select bibliography, source notes, and index round out this well-researched story that honors the many who stood up and fought against inequities at the ballot box. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.JNF053140 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Prejudice & Racism
JNF025210 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/20th Century
JNF043000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Science | Politics & Government
African Americans
Civil rights movements
20th century
Civil rights
Alabama
Race relations
Suffrage
Selma
Selma (Ala.)
