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amslersf's review
4.0
This book is a fabulous story of an man whose commitment to a more just society is evidenced in his commitment to the process of education. Winning a political battle is meaningless if the people in the battle did not come to understand themselves and the world better through the process. The Highlander school is more focused on adult education for activists and organizers and thus had less one to one relevance for my high school classroom. However, the story is a critical contribution to understanding social movements, and also importantly the time between movements, for teachers of civil rights and labor movements. I loved it!
thisdustthatmud's review
5.0
From what I had heard about The Long Haul by Myles Horton, I knew reading it would have an impact on me and I expected a lot of great insights. It didn’t disappoint. I had been meaning to read this book for a couple years, and finally got around to it this summer. I absolutely loved it and believe everyone can learn or take something from it, no matter what your interests.
For more of a review, I wrote one here:
http://livingbreathinggrowing.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/the-long-haul-myles-horton/
For more of a review, I wrote one here:
http://livingbreathinggrowing.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/the-long-haul-myles-horton/
lmurray74's review
5.0
I've known about Highlander and Myles Horton for some time, but it didn't come up during my teacher education classes. Horton didn't work in the K-12 realm and neither did he work in a formal tertiary education. He comes across as a humble person and I believe this to be true as he is always looking to the people around him. He could have taken advantage of opportunities to "brand" Highlander but again that was never his goal.
The story that stands out to me most in the book is that of Myles meeting an older black woman who told him that they had a Citizenship School down here. She said that they go out an teach people to read so they can vote. She said that she figured it out and then taught three other women to do it. Myles was behind getting Citizenship Schools set up, with a goal like that in mind.
"It's only in a movement that an idea is often made simple enough and direct enough that it can spread rapidly. Then your leadership multiplies very rapidly, because there's something explosive going on. People see that other people not so different from themselves do things that they thought could never be done. They're emboldened and challenged by that to step in the water, and once they get in the water, it's as if they've never not been there" (p. 114).
There are clear links to Freire and his practice of adult education. The two met at some point in their lives, but Freire has a larger profile, possibly because of a more direct focus on education and schooling. What this shows though is the universality of grassroots movements and the human spirit. Both men, white men, did not seek the limelight and the work they fostered has far reaching implications. It is genuinely a matter of liberatory education in the work that came out of places like Highlander. I focus on the educational aspect because that's my direct field, but this work, and this book is for anyone looking to the strength of collaborative effort in effecting real change. It is education with a life long, mile wide purpose.
The story that stands out to me most in the book is that of Myles meeting an older black woman who told him that they had a Citizenship School down here. She said that they go out an teach people to read so they can vote. She said that she figured it out and then taught three other women to do it. Myles was behind getting Citizenship Schools set up, with a goal like that in mind.
"It's only in a movement that an idea is often made simple enough and direct enough that it can spread rapidly. Then your leadership multiplies very rapidly, because there's something explosive going on. People see that other people not so different from themselves do things that they thought could never be done. They're emboldened and challenged by that to step in the water, and once they get in the water, it's as if they've never not been there" (p. 114).
There are clear links to Freire and his practice of adult education. The two met at some point in their lives, but Freire has a larger profile, possibly because of a more direct focus on education and schooling. What this shows though is the universality of grassroots movements and the human spirit. Both men, white men, did not seek the limelight and the work they fostered has far reaching implications. It is genuinely a matter of liberatory education in the work that came out of places like Highlander. I focus on the educational aspect because that's my direct field, but this work, and this book is for anyone looking to the strength of collaborative effort in effecting real change. It is education with a life long, mile wide purpose.
tovahlisa's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
As one might expect from a book published during the late nineties by a man who grew up working with a large number of minorities after a childhood in Appalachia, sometimes his language grates against what modern readers may be used to hearing. However, looking past a few word choices, this book is invaluable if you want to learn about how to make a difference. Myles Horton has been around the world being a listener, and this is his greatest quality. Even when he takes his turn to speak, he does so humbly, as evidenced in his autobiographical work The Long Haul.
I read this for my community education course, and I am very happy it was assigned.
I read this for my community education course, and I am very happy it was assigned.
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