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akahijinx's review against another edition
I was listening to this as an audiobook and just couldn't continue listening to the heavy use of the n-word by a white author and white reader. It would be one thing if it were only used in quotes, but it wasn't.
evilstudygroup's review against another edition
5.0
This book illuminates the savagery that was common at the time. It is troubling to think that these events took place barely 50 years ago and while a large part of our country was relaxing its way into the 60's there was this bubble of fear and loathing in Mississippi. Its almost as if the Delta was a separate dimension where Jim Crow culture hung over the land like a lethal fog. To know there was so much resistance to change and so much fear of the federal government shines a light on some of our current issues and problems.
girlofmanyplaces's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
larryerick's review against another edition
5.0
Despite having already read a number of books about the degradations that the South, and Mississippi in particular, have inflicted upon the blacks after the Civil War, I was terribly moved by this book. In essence, this book is about the summer of 1964 in which great efforts were made to allow the blacks of Mississippi to have the same rights of citizenship that white people enjoyed. Rights that one would have thought they had obtained after being freed as slaves a century earlier. I could talk at length about this book's contents, but I'll limit it to just three of many reactions I had while reading it. First, the dynamics of the situation that this book covers are well related to that of the American troops that served in occupied Iraq, constantly dealing with the dangers of the insurgency. Unfortunately for the freedom volunteers in Mississippi, they had similar dangers, but without all the weapons and body armor to protect them. Second, there is a dramatic element to the author's writing that at first bothered me. This is a "history" and historians don't embellish the facts. But then it occurred to me, if one person is beaten to a pulp, shot dead, and chopped into pieces because another person regards the first person as no better than a mongrel dog, does it really step over the line if the writer goes a step further and points out that this might be a bad thing? And third, I don't recall ever reading another book in which each time I picked it up to start reading further, I found myself quickly awash in thoughts about a myriad of issues related to the story and my relationship to those issues. It was like an internal book club discussion being reconvened every new time I started reading. I had to stop myself and just read. And as compelling as my inner thoughts were, the new sections I would be reading were always even more compelling. Finally, even though the book ends with better news about the subsequent state of race relations in Mississippi, it was the day before I finished the book that CNN had a new story about black victims of hit-and-run accidents by whites and of incidents that the white authorities failed to investigate for over three years until CNN started pushing the matter. The reaction from one of the county sheriffs could have been word for word from the sheriffs that abused the freedom volunteers so badly back in 1964.
anemone42's review
5.0
Essential reading on the history of Black rights (and racial minority rights, more broadly) in the USA. Absolutely tremendous.
aphonusbalonus's review
4.0
Oh, I adored this book. I enjoyed the writing so much that after I read the parts I needed to for my history report, I kept reading. (I am now very behind in finishing my history report). The voice used to explain these events was just the right amount of wonderful, and it confronted many of the tragedies faced over the year in a thoughtful way. But don't let that make you think this glossed over the horror of what happened, it was brutal and sometimes hard to read.
bentlycochran's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
19paws's review
4.0
A great narrative history--a real page-turner in fact--about the 1964 Freedom Project in Mississippi. I don’t think I realized how truly brave these young activists were, and this book was hugely inspiring. It could have used some more careful editing--there was a little bit of repetitiveness and some observations that seemed kind of opaque and needed more explanations. But those are minor quibbles. Overall, a highly recommended book.
lakecake's review against another edition
5.0
Freedom Summer is amazing and horrible and life changing and about a million other adjectives that I don't have room for. It's a part of American history that I knew nothing about, essentially, and it was particularly difficult to read and learn about in light of current events. The fact that the Klan was still running life in Mississippi in 1964 was mind-boggling to me; and then white supremacists marched on Charlottesville, VA chanting "blood and soil" with lit torches in 2017. If you think we've "come a long way" maybe that needs a redefinition of where you think we started.
kagoldeneagle's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible
This is one of the top books I’ve ever read on Mississippi history. It shines a light on special people and actions in my state’s history, while not shying away from the absolutely horrendous darkness.
This is one of the top books I’ve ever read on Mississippi history. It shines a light on special people and actions in my state’s history, while not shying away from the absolutely horrendous darkness.