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paigewetzel's review against another edition
4.0
Halberstam provides a thorough overview of the Civil Rights Movement, its precursors, and the aftermath. He fleshes out the lives of each individual and includes a post-Movement look at their lives. A great book for any one interested in learning about the Movement, especially wonderful for someone like me who currently resides in Nashville. Forever the journalist, Halberstam provides excellent quotes to supplement his research which further detail the mood of the moment. Great details about how the Movement developed, organized, and planned for achieving specific goals. Perfect for any one interested in community organizing. This is not a light or quick read, but is certainly worth the time.
judyward's review against another edition
5.0
This is simply an amazing book and one that is going to stay with me.
crtsjffrsn's review against another edition
5.0
For anyone who is either fascinated with the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s America or just the idea of civil disobedience and/or social change in general, I recommend this book. It was required reading for me in a colloquium entitled "The Life & Times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." What was interesting to me is that it was my favorite book from that seminar, even though it was the one that dealt least specifically with MLK, Jr. himself.
Halberstam's focus is on the youth of the movement - college students who were around his own age at the time - and the steps they took in the fight for equality. The story is one of hope and inspiration, helping one to realize that if these young people could stand up for what they believed in and make a difference, there's no reason that any of the rest of us can't be bothered to do something similar. It also helps to remind us that while it is easy to look back on the past and think only of the great things that came from it, real people were and are involved in these struggles - and that's something we should never forget.
Halberstam's focus is on the youth of the movement - college students who were around his own age at the time - and the steps they took in the fight for equality. The story is one of hope and inspiration, helping one to realize that if these young people could stand up for what they believed in and make a difference, there's no reason that any of the rest of us can't be bothered to do something similar. It also helps to remind us that while it is easy to look back on the past and think only of the great things that came from it, real people were and are involved in these struggles - and that's something we should never forget.
windfeather's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
elibriggs's review against another edition
5.0
excellent book. gets beyond the big names of the civil rights movement to the young people who literally put their lives on the line. very instructive for today.
arielwarren3's review against another edition
4.0
Such an interesting account to read in our history.
Super dense and therefore slow read but well worth it.
Super dense and therefore slow read but well worth it.
shalms's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant book about some of the group of young people who started the civil rights movement. A tale worth telling and recounted by a superb storyteller and journalist.
arisbookcorner's review against another edition
5.0
IQ "The Movement had been predominately black, although its aims were integrationist. Led as it was by black Southern ministers, it was religious, nonviolent, and marvelously and often clumsily democratic. It was ecumenical and above all, for people had often lost sight of this, it was optimistic. It was broad based, and it had constantly had one aim, to appeal to the conscience of America. It was, he decided, probably over; at least the part of it driven primarily by a religious force." Bernard Lafayette, 560
After you see SELMA read this book to learn more about the activists briefly mentioned in the movie (such as James Bevel played by Common and Diane Nash played by Tessa Thompson. Side note: Nash is one of my new heroes). Halberstam left no stone unturned. This book focuses on the intersecting lives of the student leaders of the civil rights movement but he also discusses the adults in their lives (both the well known and lesser known) and the approach of various figures of the Kennedy administration. Their stories are inspiring, particularly to me as a college student at the moment but also remind anyone of their own time as a young adult. His writing is excellent, that has an even greater impact because he was there for most of the story. His interviews are vivid and he does a great job extracting information from those he profiles. His book seems particularly timely at the moment because of the movie SELMA and his portrayal of Marion Barry who had only died about a month ago while I was reading this book. I have nothing else to say except READ IT. Please. I really feel that I understand the sacrifices and personalities of those who contributed to the civil rights movement on a deeper level. An exhilarating and galvanizing true story of courageous individuals who seem to be quite rare at this day and age. Some of my favorite quotes are below;
"This was is [Jim Lawson's] most crucial lesson: Ordinary people who acted on conscience and took terrible risks were no longer ordinary people. They were by their very actions transformed. They would be heroes, men and women who had been abused and arrested for seeking the most elemental of human rights" 62
"Indeed, he decided years later, everyone ought to have one pure moment in history, one glorious instant which set you apart from everyone else and made you feel that you were not ordinary, that your life was worth something" 130 Paul LaPrad
"It was at that moment that John Lewis had an epiphany: Not only did their own parents not want them to make the trip, but now the Nashville ministers felt the same way because over the past year they had become the proxy parents of the students. They had all gotten too close to each other. Because they had been through so much together and come to admire one another so much, human emotions and personal attachments were outweighing what was good for the cause. That was wrong, Lewis believed" (275).
After you see SELMA read this book to learn more about the activists briefly mentioned in the movie (such as James Bevel played by Common and Diane Nash played by Tessa Thompson. Side note: Nash is one of my new heroes). Halberstam left no stone unturned. This book focuses on the intersecting lives of the student leaders of the civil rights movement but he also discusses the adults in their lives (both the well known and lesser known) and the approach of various figures of the Kennedy administration. Their stories are inspiring, particularly to me as a college student at the moment but also remind anyone of their own time as a young adult. His writing is excellent, that has an even greater impact because he was there for most of the story. His interviews are vivid and he does a great job extracting information from those he profiles. His book seems particularly timely at the moment because of the movie SELMA and his portrayal of Marion Barry who had only died about a month ago while I was reading this book. I have nothing else to say except READ IT. Please. I really feel that I understand the sacrifices and personalities of those who contributed to the civil rights movement on a deeper level. An exhilarating and galvanizing true story of courageous individuals who seem to be quite rare at this day and age. Some of my favorite quotes are below;
"This was is [Jim Lawson's] most crucial lesson: Ordinary people who acted on conscience and took terrible risks were no longer ordinary people. They were by their very actions transformed. They would be heroes, men and women who had been abused and arrested for seeking the most elemental of human rights" 62
"Indeed, he decided years later, everyone ought to have one pure moment in history, one glorious instant which set you apart from everyone else and made you feel that you were not ordinary, that your life was worth something" 130 Paul LaPrad
"It was at that moment that John Lewis had an epiphany: Not only did their own parents not want them to make the trip, but now the Nashville ministers felt the same way because over the past year they had become the proxy parents of the students. They had all gotten too close to each other. Because they had been through so much together and come to admire one another so much, human emotions and personal attachments were outweighing what was good for the cause. That was wrong, Lewis believed" (275).