During World War I, the United States was governed by a president who believed white men were the 'real citizens' of the nation. In this powerful, elegant book Lentz-Smith shows how African American thinkers, activists, teachers, and soldiers seized that war, at home and abroad, as an opportunity to prove otherwise. Freedom Struggles brings this pivotal moment in U.S. history to life, and announces the arrival of an important new historian.
John Dittmer
An important book about the impact of World War I on black Americans. A host of historical figures, many of whom will be new to readers, took the path to activism rather than submit passively to the realities of Jim Crow America. Their stories are inspiring, and this book will establish Lentz-Smith in the front rank of young scholars of the African American experience.
— John Dittmer, author of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
Stephen Kantrowitz
During World War I, the United States was governed by a president who believed white men were the 'real citizens' of the nation. In this powerful, elegant book Lentz-Smith shows how African American thinkers, activists, teachers, and soldiers seized that war, at home and abroad, as an opportunity to prove otherwise. Freedom Struggles brings this pivotal moment in U.S. history to life, and announces the arrival of an important new historian.
— Stephen Kantrowitz, author of Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy
Jane Dailey
Brimming with energy and insight, this rich and powerful book opens new vistas on the early civil rights movement, and adds knowledge and texture to the history of World War I and the African American experience.
— Jane Dailey, author of Before Jim Crow
Carol Anderson
Lentz-Smith has crafted a superlative internationalized local history that transcends borders yet is complicated by definitions of national and parochial identities. In her skillful hands, the freedom struggle comes alive as a range of African American men and women fight for full rights even while the forces of Jim Crow and colonialism appear to become more entrenched. This book adds a significant chapter in our understanding of the long struggle for freedom both in the United States and globally.
— Carol Anderson, author of Eyes Off the Prize
