Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives

This revealing volume looks at the struggle for individual rights from the social historian's perspective, providing a fresh context for gauging the impact of the civil rights movement on everyday life across the full spectrum of American society.

From the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to protests against the Vietnam War to the fight for black power, Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives looks at events that set the stage for guaranteeing America's promise to all Americans. In eight chapters, some of the country's leading social historians analyze the most recent investigations into the civil rights era's historical context and pivotal moments. Readers will gain a richer understanding of a movement that expanded well beyond its initial focus (the treatment of African Americans in the South) to include other Americans in regions across the nation.

This work documents the importance of the civil rights movement and its lasting impression on American society and culture.

Library Journal

Ezra's (Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon) contribution to ABC-CLIO's "Perspectives in American Social History" series is a lucid, balanced examination of the lasting effects of the civil rights movement. Noted academics, including Ezra himself, have penned eight chapters, each focusing on a key element of the civil rights movement: "Early Pioneers"; "Student Activists"; "Religion and Clergy"; "Southern Civil Rights Organizations"; "Organizations Outside the South: NAACP and CORE"; "Black Nationalists"; "The Black Panther Party"; and "Women." Each chapter is illustrated with archival photographs and contains biographies of seminal figures such as Elijah Muhammad, Whitney Young, and Fanny Lou Hamer. Notable is the exploration of often-overlooked topics, e.g., the antipoverty outreach efforts of the much-maligned Black Panthers and the role of women as leaders within the movement. The book opens with brief biographies of the contributors, followed by an informative chronology that opens a few months shy of Brown v. Board of Education, and concludes in 1975. A boon for researchers, one-third of the book is dedicated to supplementary material: primary documents, a 15-page glossary, and a substantial 52-page bibliography. Numerous other titles explore the impact of the civil rights movement. Few do so with the breadth of Ezra's work. Bruce J. Dierenfield's The Civil Rights Movement focuses on responses to everyday racism, while Peter J. Ling's Gender and the Civil Rights Movement examines the role of women more closely than Ezra's work. BOTTOM LINE Any single-volume examination of the civil rights movement can at best be a primer on this era of reform or serve as a gateway tofurther research. Ezra's work shines in both these areas. All libraries should own this title.—Daniel Sifton, Cariboo Reg. Dist. Lib., Williams Lake, B.C.