Book Description
Half a century after brave Americans took to the streets to raise the bar of opportunity for all races, Juan Williams writes that too many black Americans are in crisis—caught in a twisted hip-hop culture, dropping out of school, ending up in jail, having babies when they are not ready to be parents, and falling to the bottom in twenty-first-century global economic competition.
In Enough, Juan Williams issues a lucid, impassioned clarion call to do the right thing now, before we travel so far off the glorious path set by generations of civil rights heroes that there can be no more reaching back to offer a hand and rescue those being left behind.
Inspired by Bill Cosby’s now famous speech at the NAACP gala celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown decision integrating schools, Williams makes the case that while there is still racism, it is way past time for black Americans to open their eyes to the “culture of failure” that exists within their community. He raises the banner of proud black traditional values—self-help, strong families, and belief in God—that sustained black people through generations of oppression and flowered in the exhilarating promise of the modern civil rights movement. Williams asks what happened to keeping our eyes on the prize by proving the case for equality with black excellence and achievement.
He takes particular aim at prominent black leaders—from Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson to Marion Barry. Williams exposes the call for reparations as an act of futility, a detour into self-pity; he condemns the “Stop Snitching” campaign as nothing more than a surrender to criminals; and he decries the glorification of materialism, misogyny, and murder as a corruption of a rich black culture, a tragic turn into pornographic excess that is hurting young black minds, especially among the poor.
Reinforcing his incisive observations with solid research and alarming statistical data, Williams offers a concrete plan for overcoming the obstacles that now stand in the way of African Americans’ full participation in the nation’s freedom and prosperity. Certain to be widely discussed and vehemently debated, Enough is a bold, perceptive, solution-based look at African American life, culture, and politics today.
Customer Reviews:
Is more than i was expected.......2007-10-17
Hay! Is more than i was expected. Thank you amazon and sender.
Take care
A Thought-Provoking Critical Analysis Of Black Culture.......2007-10-13
Juan Williams has eloquently and courageously put to words thoughts that I've had for many years. I find it interesting that it took a speech from famed comedian / actor Bill Cosby to spur Mr. Williams to take center stage in the culture battle within the black community.
Nevertheless, this book exposes to the world the mindless rhetoric and failed strategies of many of the so-called civil rights leaders that are just as much a drag on the ability of American blacks to successfully pursue the American dream as slavery and racism ever was. I would even go so far as to assert that self-appointed civil rights leaders practice an entirely new brand of slavery, economic slavery, designed to keep a noble and proud culture chained to the failing polices of past radicalism and confrontation that had their place in the 60s but are woefully inadequate today; and which only presently exits to serve the self-interests of those who promote them. While Mr. Williams hints at such, a bolder, more clearly articulated statement would have been a welcomed addition to his work. My only other disappointment with Enough was the lack of footnotes and source citations for many of its claims.
Minor criticisms aside, this is a well written book. Mr. Williams presents his ideas in a smoothly organized fashion that rivets the readers' attention in a vice grip of paradigm shifts, provocative ideas, and conservative thought that the black community would do well to consider. Its been said as a political force the black vote is taken for granted by the Democrat Party and written off by the Republican Party. Many of the reasons are revealed in this book. How can either party consider blacks to be politically relevant when the emerging leadership in politics and pop culture debase and disrespect their own people and the rule of law?
As so well stated by Mr. Williams, the key to ending black poverty and lack of social progress lies within the black community itself. Government can throw billions more dollars at the problem with equally meager results as seen these past 30 years, or blacks can rise above the crass, degrading, demeaning, and enslaving icons of rap artists, self-serving civil rights leaders, tolerance of neighborhood crime, and lack of moral courage to propel the race to unimagined prosperity. Enough is certainly a step in the right direction.
Speaking For Us!.......2007-10-06
It took one speech by one man at one moment frozen in time to set off a barrage of discussions on the Black community's progress post-civil Rights era.
Bill Cosby, famed doctor of the Cosby show, stood in front of the crowd as if he was a preacher standing at a pulpit speaking truths from the Bible instead of having a congregation of the willing eagerly anticipating his every word the crowd was members of the NAACP who expected a simple congratulatory speech from the non-controversial celebrity. The event that Mr. Cosby made his infamous speech was deemed, by him, to be appropriate--it was the commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Brown vs. the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling (this ruling prompted the eventual integration of public schools across America--making the "separate but equal" policy unconstitutional). Irregardless of how you felt about Cosby's speech, you have to admit that it took immense courage on his part to risk his reputation and long-standing alliances (both political and social) to draw from his wisdom that he has gained over the years as an actor, activist and as a black man.
The author, Juan Williams, of "Enough....", is an accomplished commentator (known from his correspondent work on NPR and Fox News) exceptionally delved into Mr. Cosby's argument about the downturn and complacency of the Black community after the Civil Rights Movement. He took each hard-hitting point of Bill Cosby's speech such as the lack of importance on education leading to increased drop-out rates, social failures as result of deteriorating family cohesion, the long-term effects of criminal elements within neighborhood of all economies--especially poorer areas, lack of credible leadership to further carry-on the torch of the movement, cyclical poverty effecting the economic wealth of the community, and the ill-conceived plea to seek reparations from the federal government for the crimes against our ancestors.
Mr. William's approach to analyzing Bill Cosby's argument for change was reminiscent of a college professor that taught one of my "art of argument logic" courses--he presented a theory, dissected it, built it back up, presented opposing views and brought it all full circle!
As I read this book, I realized that it was justified for Cosby (or anyone else) to point out the shortcomings within the black community to invoke change. Why should we continue to go on with our lives being disillusioned? Everything is not okay! Cosby's speech is simply a rally call to everyone, in particular, those that will take heed to his battle cry. We are not at war with this mystical force out there to get black folks (aka "the man"), we are at war with "crabs in the bucket" weighing down on the community making it appear to the world that we are a community who continues to fail whether in education, economic advancement and social imagery. I know that Cosby wasn't speaking to everyone--not all blacks are dropping out of school! Not all blacks are unaware of the sacrifices that our ancestors went through so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today! Not all blacks are accepting of the negative images and buffoonery that is in the media! Not all blacks are accepting of anything that sets us back to a period prior to the civil rights movement!
People within the Black community should not dismiss Bill Cosby as just some old, rich man with nothing better to do than to nitpick at the "wrongs of the young generation". His speech had validity and needed to be heard and what better venue than at event celebrating a freedom that some black people take for granted--the right to an equal opportunity to a quality education under the eyes of the law.
Enough by Juan Williams.......2007-10-05
This was an awesome book that should be mandatory reading for Liberal Arts majors and just the general public. The author describes a realistic pathway for both blacks and whites in the search for racial harmony.
Juan Williams -- The Black Radical.......2007-09-28
I used to think that people like Mr. Williams were sellouts. Now, I know better. When you look at what he is saying...he is saying the same thing as Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. (Farrakhan just has a slicker approach.)
That is, the Nation draws you in with their "hate whitey" message, but when you join they slowly flip the script. When you attend the meetings, buy the tapes, and read the there books, the message is the same:
1. Eat good foods (How to eat to live).
2. Take care of your responsibilities. "Every brother needs a job. If he doesn't have a job, then the brothers need to get together and create him one." -- Farrakhan
3. Don't buy things (cars and homes) you can't afford. - F.O.I. meetings
4. Educate your own children. - If they won't treat you right, they won't teach you right. N.O.I slogan
What more needs to be said? Juan Williams is as pro-black as you can get!
Amazon.com
John Lewis is an authentic American hero, a modest man from the most humble of beginnings who left a rural Alabama cotton farm 40 years ago and strode into the forefront of the civil rights movement. One of the young people who brought the teachings of Ghandi and King to the lunch counters of Nashville in 1960, Lewis suffered taunts and threats, beatings and arrests. He spoke at the historic 1963 March on Washington and became chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The nation, tuned to the nightly news, watched in horror as state troopers clubbed him viciously, fracturing his skull as he led a march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. Today, he's the only member of Congress who can be proud of having been carried off to jail more than 40 times. With the help of a collaborator, journalist Michael D'Orso, this remarkable man has written a truly remarkable book. Walking with the Wind is a deeply moving personal memoir that skillfully balances the intimate and touching recollections of the deeply thoughtful Lewis with the intense national drama that was the civil rights movement.
Book Description
Forty years ago, a teenaged boy named John Lewis stepped off a cotton farm in Alabama and into the epicenter of the struggle for civil rights in America. The ideals of nonviolence which guided that critical time of American history established him as one of the movement's most charismatic and courageous leaders.
In Walking with the Wind, John Lewis recounts his life with the fierce simplicity for which he is known, both in public and private. It began in rural poverty but within the bosom of a loving and resilient family. It has ranged across almost every battlefield in the most dramatic struggles for racial justice -- from Selma to Montgomery to Birmingham and beyond.
Lewis's leadership of the Nashville Movement -- a student-led effort to desegregate the city of Nashville using sit-in techniques based on the teachings of Gandhi -- established him as one of the movement's defining figures and set the tone for the major civil rights campaigns of the 1960s, from the Freedom Rides of 1961, during which Lewis was repeatedly brutally beaten and imprisoned; to the 1963 March on Washington, where his fiery speech thrust him into the national spotlight; to his selection as the national chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), which he helped shape and guide; to the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" attack at Selma, where Lewis suffered a fractured skull during a tear gas attack by Alabama state troopers. Lewis, as a participant in the movement, was to be, and remains, utterly true to his boyhood hero, Martin Luther King Jr., as a believer in the philosophy and discipline of nonviolent social action.
In 1966, Lewis was ousted as SNCC chairman by Stokely Carmichael, who represented the emerging militant "Black Power" direction of the movement. Two years later, Lewis joined Robert Kennedy in his 1968 campaign for the presidency. He was with Kennedy moments before he was assassinated.
Lewis, committed to the principles of nonviolence, spent the next decade organizing and registering four million voters in the South. In 1986, he sought a United States congressional seat in a campaign against his old friend, comrade, and former SNCC colleague Julian Bond. Lewis won the seat in a great upset and serves in Congress to this day.
John Lewis tells his story of struggle in the civil rights movement, of comradeship in that community, of its battles and triumphs, and of his own persevering faith with great charm, candor, and humor.
Customer Reviews:
A Walk with the Wind not a Work of Art.......2007-08-02
The junior standard-bearer for civil rights during the era of segregation recounts his rise through those times toward his own national recognition. It's an intimate and introspective offering. It's a unique perspective.
After his Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, crashes, he self-imposes exile as an "invisible man" in New York working as a grant officer for a private charity:
(p398) "New York was just too big for me. I didn't feel as if I could get my hands around it. In the South, communities seemed comprehensible, manageable, workable. You could see where things started and ended. You could get a grasp of the place and the people, as well as their problems. And you could respond to those problems with solutions that might work...."
He always has the South on his mind where there remains "a spirit instilled by the civil rights movement that is still felt and remembered today, a spirit that was not and is not felt in the same way in the North. That, I believe, is the huge difference between the legacy of the civil rights movement in the North and the South. All the great battlegrounds of the civil rights movement were in the South. That fact is cherished and remembered by the people there." (p 208).
There is confusion in "Feel Angry with Me". The chapter describes the fall of Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. Their violent deaths in defense of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law during Freedom Summer (1964) fixed the nation's eyes on racist brutality in Mississippi. The confusion is in character casting and mixing the ridiculous partying with his friend, actress, Shirley MacLaine and his virginity in the same chapter with the sublime. Here, especially, the book sacrifices continuity to rigid chronology.
In and out of church - and on both sides of the pulpit - his cast of characters is most colorful, including a prominent one (not MacLaine) today facing bizarre criminal charges. So many stories within the author's story could make for a better book than a strict chronology.
The author alludes to his motivation to influence the masses, (p 400) "I felt the spirit, the hand of the Lord, the power of the Bible -- all of those things -- but only when they flowed through the church and out into the streets. As long as God and His teachings were kept inside the wall of a sanctuary, as they were when I was young, the church meant next to nothing to me." Like a good, "whooping" preacher, he is, at times, poetic. It's some of his best stuff.
Congressman Lewis is no great hero, though he has a measure of both -- greatness of association to the movement he led until the times turned violent -- and heroism for holding to his sometimes politically incorrect beliefs, though not sufficiently incorrect for this reviewer. And his book is not great literature. It is his gift to us with an interest in non-violent social change.
Pesonal journey in Civil Rights Era.......2007-07-12
John Lewis's powerful and moving retelling of his journey through the
Civil Rights years, much of it in leadership positions, is a walk through
important American history. His clarity of purpose, values, honed by the
beatings and jailings of those years shine through it all. This personal
insight into events we read about in history makes it real, and makes us
admire the courage and persistence of people like John Lewis. In our present
times of struggle over issues of war, environment and economic fairness,
we need both a reminder of this historical struggle and a next generation
to press us to make changes, to make a difference. A must read for anyone
concerned about our present times.
Walking With The People.......2007-06-13
Ever since I came to the U.S. I learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his philosophy of non-violence, I always wanted to learn more about the civil rights movement because of the way African American citizens overcame their obstacles in a non-violent way.
Walking with the wind is a memoir of the author John Lewis, the book begins at his home town where he was raised and learned the meaning of discrimination at an early age. The book describes his whole life how he was discriminated and how became involved with the movement, and how he later on became chair man of the SNCC.
The book also has a part where it only describes the life of John Lewis after the movement, what he does and what happens to all of his close friends, this is at the end of the book, but also talks about how he tries to become something important in U.S. politics.
My favorite part of the whole book is when John Lewis is watching the presidential elections of 1976, when he sees that Jimmy Carter was elected he begins to cry because like he says, he finally sees the hands that picked cotton, picking a president, he cries because he sees that all his hard work pays off, by the government counting the black vote.
The knowledge that John Lewis wants to pass down to readers is the struggle of all African American people to gain freedom and rights, he wants the new generation of people of color to know how much the old generation had to go through to gain all the freedom kids posses these days.
This book is boring, there is almost no action, it is mostly talking about politics, so do not read this book if you are not hooked by memoirs. It takes time to get into the good stuff, like for example, there are parts where the author describes the way police responded in a violent way to a non-violent protest, there are many occasions like this through out the whole book.
First-hand account of the student civil rights movement.......2007-06-04
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the Civil Rights Movement. Lewis' broad range of experiences gives the reader a glimpse into nearly every facet of the 1960's part of the movement. However, it is also useful for the specific study of the Nashville student movement and the study of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee).
It all comes together here.......2005-12-03
John Robert Lewis "You are the man" Best book on civil rights movement I have read. The story seems to come full circle.
Book Description
This new reader comprises an extensive collection of primary and secondary documents of the American Civil Rights movement. These documents are complemented by analytical and interpretive essays by the editor, setting these documents in their historical, social, and political context. The seeds for the modern Civil Rights Movement were planted nearly a century ago within the black Baptist Church, labor unions, the black press, and organizations like the NAACP and the SNYC. Each of the seven sections of this book present a carefully chosen selection of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, letters, speeches, reports, and legal documents, all chronicling the one aspect of the movement for black rights from the earliest days of post-Civil War segregation to the present. The works of eminent scholars, historians, legislators, and jurists alternate with the voices of movement leaders and followers, black politicians, black entertainers, and average citizens, all blending together to tell the story of struggle, failures, and successes on the road to equality for Black Americans.
Customer Reviews:
An Awesome Book and Author.......2001-03-21
Raymond D'Angelo is Chair of the Social Science department at the school I attend, St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, NY. I took a class he taught during the spring of 2001 called "The Civil Rights Movement." He used this book as the text for the course. He knows alot about this subject and the book was very well written. I highly recommend this book for both students and people interested in the topic. By the way all the proceeds go to the Selma Voting Rights Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum.
Customer Reviews:
A worthwhile read.......2007-09-03
Reviewed by Dr. Abdul Salaam first health professional (Dentist) to join the Nation of Islam (1957), dentist to Malcolm X, Minister Louis Farrakhan and (The Honorable) Elijah Muhammad.
This book was for me one of the more thoughtful and clear expositions looking at a short segment of his life pre Malcolm X but focusing primarily on the last year and a half after Malcolm had left the Nation of Islam and a short time after his death that took a close look at his overall economic as well as his conjectured mental state during that time. The fact that Goldman was both a well respected journalist and a Whiteman who had known and was writing about Malcolm, in my opinion, produced a book of unusual insights and depth. Goldman was interviewed in the film An American Experience PBS documentary "Malcolm X Make It Plain" (a film containng segments from my collection on Malcolm and the Nation of Islam) to discuss his perspective on Malcolm. If anyone is still into the "Whiteman is the Devil" thing I suggest care be exercised by holding that bias in abeyance so as not to be blinded by that belief when reading the book. They may miss an important contribution to understanding Malcolm X. and the hardships he endured both in spite of and because of his fame. We all wear some kind of blinders as I tried to indicate in the chapter on "My Story" in my own soon to be released publication, Myths vs Realities, (The Honorable) Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, an Islamic Perspective. We should always keep that in mind.
Truth and Alive.......2005-08-09
On all of the chapters what happen back then is still very alive today.
Well Written Account of Malcolm X 's Assassination and Life.......2005-01-25
Anyone who has read Alex Haley's "Autobiography of Malcolm X" would be interested in this account by Goldman. Notice the title puts the word "death" before "life". The author delves into the mystery connected with Malcolm's assassination and the resulting coverup of the facts. Issues with the Nation of Islam are also addressed in a non-bias approach. Goldman also intelligently presents his case as being qualified to write about Malcolm X, despite the fact that he is a white man. Although there is no "smoking gun" as to who was truly behind Malcolm's assassination, this book is a good read.
Book Description
This book begins in 1901, when Booker T. Washington at the age of forty-five was approaching the zenith of his fame and influence, and ends with his death in 1915. It is a biographical study in the sense that its focus is on the complex, enigmatic figure of Washington, the most powerful black minority-group boss of his time.
Customer Reviews:
Very Interesting and Engaging .......2005-06-14
Kudos to Mr. Louis Harlan!
In his interesting work, "The Making of a Black Leader", Mr. Harlan does a wonderful job of capturing the true meaning of Booker T. Washington in all of his dimensions in American history. Prior to reading Mr. Harlan's work, I had many preconceived notions of Booker T., the most infamous being that he was a "traitor" or an "Uncle Tom" of the black race. After reading Mr. Harlan's book, I not only continue to think that Booker T. Washington was one of the premier black conservatives of his time but, one who continues to influence black conservative political thought in contemporary American politics. In all, Mr. Harlan does a great job of presenting a balanced and fair observation of Booker's continuing legacy in the African American community and the larger American family. Using empirical data and substantive research, Mr. Harlan clearly presents many compelling arguments, in which all are supported with great evidence and interesting testimonials from speeches and interviews from years past. I urge all (especially African Americans) to read this wonderful masterpiece of African American literature.
Book Description
In the late 1820s Sarah and Angelina Grimké traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the North. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother had had children with one of his slaves, the Grimké sisters helped to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life in postbellum America. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African American activists in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful Story.......2002-01-04
I agree with reviewer Dan E. Moldea who suggests that the film studios will line up behind this one. It's a wonderfully crafted story which makes you feel you are inside the story. Kudos to author Mark Perry. He is a wonderfully talented story teller.
An inspiration to young women.......2001-12-18
Lift Up Thy Voice is a compelling tale of two sisters that will inspire young women to speak up and fight for what they believe. This book recounts the significant, yet often ignored role women played in the abolition of slavery. But beyond the facts of history I enjoyed reading the more personal story of the sisters and the effect their strong beliefs had on their personal lives. Even today having strong feminist views is not without its consequences, but these women spoke out at a time when women belonged their fathers and then to their husbands, rarely to themselves. Mark Perry has written an excellent and comprehensive history of this family and I would recommend it to readers interested in women's history as well as African American history.
Fabulous!.......2001-11-27
Mark Perry follows his important last book on the Civil War with this gem about two remarkable American families, one black and the other white. The only remaining question is: Which Hollywood studio will get the film rights? Perry is quickly becoming one of America's best storytellers.
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Black Leadership: Four Great American Leaders and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Manning Marable
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0140281134 |
Amazon.com
This important work from noted Afro-American intellectual and Columbia University professor Manning Marable examines the "ideology, culture and politics" of black leaders. Marable's "analysis of black leadership in the twentieth century" concentrates on three traditions of black power: the accommodationist perspective characterized by Booker T. Washington, the nationalist-separatist slant advocated by Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, and the ideology of democratic transformation championed by W.E.B. Du Bois. Black Leadership defines each of these positions, then dissects their flaws. Marable argues, for example, that Washington's political strategy led to the segregationist "Jim Crow" laws. Citing the aura of black separatist nationalism that underlined the Million Man March led by Farrakhan in 1996, Marable notes that "the social philosophy behind its agenda was deeply conservative and pessimistic about the likelihood that whites would ever recognize or respond to blacks' grievances." Other notable figures like Paul Robeson and Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, are discussed, and Marable ultimately posits that black leaders should align themselves with multicultural coalitions: "There is no monochromatic model for democratic social change in a pluralistic society." --Eugene Holley Jr.
Book Description
In a powerful book that belongs next to Cornel West's bestselling Race Matters, African American intellectual Manning Marable examines the role of black leadership.
The history of the black struggle for civil rights and political and economic equality in America is deeply tied to the strategies, agendas, and styles of black leaders. In this compelling work, Manning Marable presents thought-provoking portraits of some of this century's most vital black leaders, delving into significant but little-studied aspects of their careers.
At the heart of the book are probing examinations of four leaders whose legacies speak to the challenges of race, class, and power: Booker T. Washington's conservative strategy of accommodation to segregation, Harold Washington's failure to uproot Chicago's political machine, the nationalist separatism of Louis Farrakhan, and the democratic transformation championed by W.E.B. Du Bois. Cogently argued and lucidly written, Black Leadership goes beyond the rhetoric of racial politics and renews the possibility of lasting cultural change throughout American society.
"One of the most exciting and important books on race and black leadership to appear in quite a while. . . . This book is woven together with a golden thread of scholarly vision and intellectual unity." --Michael Eric Dyson, author of Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line
Download Description
The history of the black struggle for civil rights and political and economic equality in America is deeply tied to the strategies, agendas, and styles of black leaders. In this compelling work, Manning Marable examines different models of black leadership and the figures who embody them: from the integrationist approaches of Booker T. Washington and Harold Washington, to the nationlist separatism of Louis Farrakhan, and, finally, the democratic transformation championed by W. E. B. Du Bois. Marable's analysis of all three models criticizes the deep conservatism of both integrationists and national separatists, and praises Du Bois's radical democratic vision of linking racial equality with the struggle for political and economic liberty for all. This original account of black leadership in the United States reveals what is at stake in terms of politics, economics, and culture, both in the black community and in America at large.
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LBJ's American Promise: The 1965 Voting Rights Address (Library of Presidential Rhetoric)
Garth E. Pauley
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1585445819 |
Book Description
Though Lyndon Johnson developed a reputation as a rough-hewn, arm-twisting deal-maker with a drawl, at a crucial moment in history he delivered an address to Congress that moved Martin Luther King Jr. to tears and earned praise from the media as the best presidential speech in American history. Even today, his voting rights address of 1965 ranks high not only in political significance, but also as an example of leadership through oratory.
Garth E. Pauley carefully analyzes both the content and the context of this historic speech. He begins with an analysis of the less-than-linear path of voting rights in the United States, and highlights the failures and limited successes of previous legislation. Many commentators have seen Johnson's voting rights speech as a response to the escalating protests in Selma, and Pauley explores that connection. Did Johnson wait too long to address the issue? Would he have championed voting rights without the protests? Pauley traces the development of the speech and the policy with these questions in mind. He situates the speech not only within its immediate context but also within Johnson's ideology and value system, tracing the influences on Johnson's racial attitudes and describing the complex of policies he developed to address issues of inequality.
Having set the stage for the address, Pauley then carefully analyzes the text itself. He charts the "authorship" of the speech through several drafts by aides, traces the purposefulness of the allusions, and recounts the extemporizing Johnson introduced when he actually delivered the address. He notes the idealistic, even mythic dimensions of the speech, which contrast with its plainspoken style.
Finally, Pauley gauges the effectiveness of the speech. He reports the response to the address in the media, among civil rights leaders, and in the general population. Pauley concludes with some reservations about the effectiveness not only of this address but also of the Johnson program for racial justice. Nonetheless, he believes that "Lyndon Johnson's 'We Shall Overcome' speech remains a remarkable achievement," combining principle with rhetorical leadership.
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- One MLK Jr. Holiday, I See More Need for Peacemakers!
- A Special Delivery Letter
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Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
S. Jonathan Bass , and
Martin Luther, Jr. King
Manufacturer: Louisiana State Univ Pr
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0807126551 |
Book Description
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is arguably the most important written document of the civil rights protest era and a widely read modern literary classic. Personally addressed to eight white Birmingham clergymen who sought to avoid violence by publicly discouraging King's civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, the nationally published "Letter" captured the essence of the struggle for racial equality and provided a blistering critique of the gradualist approach to racial justice. It soon became part of American folklore, and the image of King penning his epistle from a prison cell remains among the most moving of the era. Yet as S. Jonathan Bass explains in the first comprehensive history of King's "Letter," this image and the piece's literary appeal conceal a much more complex tale.
Customer Reviews:
One MLK Jr. Holiday, I See More Need for Peacemakers!.......2005-01-18
All who lived during those momentous years of Southern turmoil of 1960's were greatly impacted by the laws of desegregation of the white churches and schools. As one renews his/her commitment to religious and social justice, it brings into focus our recent tragedies of Ruwanda, Iraq, Thailand, and Indonesia! Upon my own return to Professor Bass's BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, I easily conjure up my perennial pictures of his accounts of eight white Ministers, their churches and families being turned inside/out or upside/down by Southern racial injustice.
In Bass's easy reading, documented, and dramatically illustrated account of eight white ministers' appeal for law, order, common sense, before and after the reception of MLK Jr's, "Letter From Birmingham Jail," I was transported back to 1963; Into mid-1965 when Earl Stallings became both my Pastor and my Good Friend! In spite of persistent segregationist pressure, not once did Earl consider turning black vsitors away from First Baptist Church of Birmingham. "If the people came to worship," Stallings wrote days after the incident "we had no Christian justification for closing our doors...if they came to provoke an incident, we were determined to have no part in this action."
Since 1954 the FBC maintained an open-door policy for any black visitors. From an early distinguished Pastor J T Ford, followed by Guy Sloan and Grady Cothen and Earl Stallings they reaffirmed that policy! Yet on the morning after they welcomed the first black visitors, newspapers all over the country printed large photographs of a cheerful Earl Stallings shaking hands with the black visitors. They included both the NEW YORK TIMES and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution!
From my perspective or from Prof. Jonathan Bass's perpspective, it appears that he gave a deeper account of the introspective thoughts or words of Earl Stallings, than from the other white ministers! Since MLK's Letter referred to outstanding persons' writing: Ralph McGill, Harry Golden, James McBride Dobbs, Ann Braden, Lillian Smith, and Sarah Patten Boyle, it seems that the author added deserving comments beside the eight pictures of those Ministers. Next to Earl Stallings picture he quoted his recent sermon: "We hear the call of truth, of righteousness, of justice, but we are not men enough to heed its challenge!"
From 1965 thru 1975 in his next pastorate, I often needed Earl's commitment to equality and social justice, as when I chose music of Fred Waring's "Easter Story of Black Spirituals" over Church dissent: "It's getting much too close for those Black threats of violence in our streets of Marietta on Good Friday, April 8th of 1968!" That same evening for the Good Friday Worship we had a full house with a few black families present! Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood
A Special Delivery Letter.......2001-06-26
It was just a letter written by a man in jail, on behalf of his race, attempting to address the social injustice of the time-right? Wrong! Martin Luther King's Letter From the Birmingham Jail is much more compelling, and the circumstances surrounding its final composition more complex than the average person knows. Ostensibly written to the eight white clergymen of the embittered and embattled steel city, it was intended for a much wider audience-namely the media and the American public. Blessed Are the Peacemakers provides the reader with individual profiles of the eight and their struggles of conscience as they saw an old social order collapse. What has been taken as the almost spur-of-the-moment reflections of Martin Luther King, in jail for civil disobedience, turns out to be a document much longer in the making and more calculated in its delivery. This disclosure in no way detracts from its rightful place in American folklore or its power in fueling Civil Rights Movement. Rather, it helps us understand the care with which the deep conviction of racial rights was presented. The book is not an apology for the eight clergy, some of whom were more progressive than others, but it does provide much needed insight for the serious student of history into the complex struggles, powerful emotions, and vitrolic attacks perpetrated on even the most moderate voices of the white clergy. What it does not do, of course, is speak of the many white clergy of lesser rank who paid a much higher price for their fight for justice for their black brothers and sisters. Still, to read about these eight leaders, (Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Jewish) and their struggles is instructive. As an Alabama-born, white clergy expatriate from that period, marginally involved in the Civil Rights Movement, I hung on every word. These are reflections that should help black and white readers alike better understand this turbulent period. Statements from the eight white clergy as well as King's Letter are included in the appendix.
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