An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee

by Aram Goudsouzian (Editor), Charles W. McKinney Jr. (Editor)

Overview

In An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee, eminent and rising scholars present a multidisciplinary examination of African American activism in Memphis from the dawn of emancipation to the twenty—first century. Together, they investigate episodes such as the 1940 "Reign of Terror" when black Memphians experienced a prolonged campaign of harassment, mass arrests, and violence at the hands of police. They also examine topics including the relationship between the labor and civil rights movements, the fight for economic advancement in black communities, and the impact of music on the city's culture. Covering subjects as diverse as politics, sports, music, activism, and religion, An Unseen Light illuminates Memphis's place in the long history of the struggle for African American freedom and human dignity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813153179
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Series:	Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century
Pages:	422
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Aram Goudsouzian is Bizot Family Professor of History at the University of Memphis. His books include Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon, King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution, and Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear. Charles W. McKinney Jr. is the Neville Frierson Bryan Chair of Africana Studies and associate professor of history at Rhodes College. A scholar of the Black Freedom Struggle, he is the author of Greater Freedom: The Evolution of the Civil Rights Struggle in Wilson, North Carolina. 

Table of Contents

Introduction Aram Goudsouzian Charles W. McKinney Jr. 1

1 "In the Hands of the Lord": Migrants and Community Politics in the Late Nineteenth Century Brian D. Page 13

2 "The Saving of Black America's Body and White America's Soul": The Lynching of Ell Persons and the Rise of Black Activism in Memphis Darius Young 39

3 Equal Power: Bishop Charles H. Mason and the National Tabernacle Fire Elton H. Weaver III 61

4 "There Will Be No Discrimination": Race, Power, and the Memphis Flood of 1937 David Welky 86

5 Taylor-Made: Envisioning Black Memphis at Midcentury Beverly Greene Bond 107

6 "We'll Have No Race Trouble Here": Racial Politics and Memphis's Reign of Terror Jason Jordan 130

7 Power and Protection: Gender and Black Working-Class Protest Narratives, 1940-1948 Laurie B. Green 150

8 Black Memphians and New Frontiers: The Shelby County Democratic Club, the Kennedy Administration, and the Quest for Black Political Power, 1959-1964 Elizabeth Gritter 177

9 "Since I Was a Citizen, I Had the Right to Attend the Library": The Key Role of the Public Library in the Civil Rights Movement in Memphis Steven A. Knowlton 203

10 "You Pay One Hell of a Price to Be Black": Rufus Thomas and the Racial Politics of Memphis Music Charles L. Hughes 228

11 "If the March Cannot Be Here, Then Where?" Memphis and the Meredith March Aram Goudsouzian 254

12 Nonviolence, Black Power, and the Surveillance State in Memphis's War on Poverty Anthony C. Siracusa 279

13 Beyond 1968: The 1969 Black Monday Protest in Memphis James Conway 306

14 Beauty and the Black Student Revolt: Black Student Activism at Memphis State and the Politics of Campus "Beauty Spaces" Shirletta Kinchen 330

15 After Stax: Race, Sound, and Neighborhood Revitalization Zandria F. Robinson 348

16 Black Workers Matter: The Continuing Search for Racial and Economic Equality in Memphis Michael K. Honey 366

Coda Charles W. McKinney Jr. 393

List of Contributors 401

Index 405

What People are Saying About This

Françoise Hamlin

"From the aftermath of the post-Civil War race massacre to continuous violence, murder, and bitter confrontations into the twenty-first century, contributors illuminate An Unseen Light on those black Memphians forging lives nonetheless, through negotiation, protest, music, accommodation, prayer, faith and sometimes sheer stubbornness. Memphis is a principal character in this collection as a geographically and historically critical stopping point for some and home to many African Americans across class, gender, church, and political affiliations. Scholars intellectually and personally invested in the city as a site of family and community, and career, bring an unequivocal depth of understanding and richness about place and belonging that textures the pages with life, from the church pews, the music studios, or the myriad of social or political organizations, to the land itself, adding more layers to underscore how black lives have mattered in the historical grassroots building of the nation. This is thoughtful and beautiful work."

Françoise Hamlin

"From the aftermath of the post-Civil War race massacre to continuous violence, murder, and bitter confrontations into the twenty-first century, contributors illuminate An Unseen Light on those black Memphians forging lives nonetheless, through negotiation, protest, music, accommodation, prayer, faith and sometimes sheer stubbornness. Memphis is a principal character in this collection as a geographically and historically critical stopping point for some and home to many African Americans across class, gender, church, and political affiliations. Scholars intellectually and personally invested in the city as a site of family and community, and career, bring an unequivocal depth of understanding and richness about place and belonging that textures the pages with life, from the church pews, the music studios, or the myriad of social or political organizations, to the land itself, adding more layers to underscore how black lives have mattered in the historical grassroots building of the nation. This is thoughtful and beautiful work."

From the Publisher

"This rich collection covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the African American freedom struggle in Memphis, Tennessee. One of its greatest strengths is the breadth of the essays, which span a long period from the end of the civil war to the twenty-first century. An Unseen Light is a valuable addition to civil rights scholarship." — Cynthia Griggs Fleming, author of Yes We Did?: From King's Dream to Obama's Promise

"From the aftermath of the post-Civil War race massacre to continuous violence, murder, and bitter confrontations into the twenty-first century, contributors illuminate An Unseen Light on those black Memphians forging lives nonetheless, through negotiation, protest, music, accommodation, prayer, faith and sometimes sheer stubbornness. Memphis is a principal character in this collection as a geographically and historically critical stopping point for some and home to many African Americans across class, gender, church, and political affiliations. Scholars intellectually and personally invested in the city as a site of family and community, and career, bring an unequivocal depth of understanding and richness about place and belonging that textures the pages with life, from the church pews, the music studios, or the myriad of social or political organizations, to the land itself, adding more layers to underscore how black lives have mattered in the historical grassroots building of the nation. This is thoughtful and beautiful work." — Françoise Hamlin, author of Crossroads at Clarksdale: The Black Freedom Struggle After World War II, and co-editor of These Truly Are The Brave: An Anthology of African American Writings on War and Citizenship

"This rich collection covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the African American freedom struggle in Memphis, Tennessee. One of its greatest strengths is the breadth of the essays, which span a long period from the end of the civil war to the twenty-first century . An Unseen Light is a valuable addition to civil rights scholarship." — Cynthia Griggs Fleming, author of Yes We Did?: From King's Dream to Obama's Promise

Cynthia Griggs Fleming

"This rich collection covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the African American freedom struggle in Memphis, Tennessee. One of its greatest strengths is the breadth of the essays, which span a long period from the end of the civil war to the twenty-first century. An Unseen Light is a valuable addition to civil rights scholarship."

Editorial Reviews

This rich collection covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the African American freedom struggle in Memphis, Tennessee. One of its greatest strengths is the breadth of the essays, which span a long period from the end of the civil war to the twenty—first century. An Unseen Light is a valuable addition to civil rights scholarship.

Cynthia Griggs Fleming

An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee is an important work of community history.

Journal of African American History

The collection did an excellent job in explaining the inner workings of Memphis, TN. The works highlighted the past actions, organizing and insurgency which created the dynamics of racism, classism, social, and political power seen in modern Memphis. I recommend this collection to those interested in the shaping of a large southern city. I also recommend to new and lifelong Memphians to provide a blueprint of the historical legacy of Memphis and how this legacy continues to impact the lives of African Americans.

Tennessee Libraries

Collections of essays often lack focus and struggle to hold a theme. This is not the case with An Unseen Light. Both of the editors and most of the sixteen contributors have strong connections to Memphis and grasp its rather unique position at the crossroads of the Deep South and the mid—South, a place governed by a rural plantation mentality, even as it often promoted a cultural and commercial vitality. Each (essay) is carefully researched and directly tied to black struggles for freedom in the city.

Journal of American History

Published fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis in 1968, this timely work provokes contemporary reflection on the ongoing freedom struggle. This edited volume is the first of its kind on the Memphis struggle.

Journal of Southern History

"Offering a panoramic view of how black Memphians responded to racial exclusion and state violence, the essays sketch a long black freedom movement beginning near the end of Reconstruction, with its reverberations extending into the 21st century." — Public Books

"The collection did an excellent job in explaining the inner workings of Memphis, TN. The works highlighted the past actions, organizing and insurgency which created the dynamics of racism, classism, social, and political power seen in modern Memphis. I recommend this collection to those interested in the shaping of a large southern city. I also recommend to new and lifelong Memphians to provide a blueprint of the historical legacy of Memphis and how this legacy continues to impact the lives of African Americans." — Tennessee Libraries

"Published fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis in 1968, this timely work provokes contemporary reflection on the ongoing freedom struggle. This edited volume is the first of its kind on the Memphis struggle." — Journal of Southern History

"Collections of essays often lack focus and struggle to hold a theme. This is not the case with An Unseen Light. Both of the editors and most of the sixteen contributors have strong connections to Memphis and grasp its rather unique position at the crossroads of the Deep South and the mid-South, a place governed by a rural plantation mentality, even as it often promoted a cultural and commercial vitality. Each (essay) is carefully researched and directly tied to black struggles for freedom in the city." — Journal of American History

From the Publisher

From the aftermath of the post—Civil War race massacre to continuous violence, murder, and bitter confrontations into the twenty—first century, contributors illuminate An Unseen Light on those black Memphians forging lives nonetheless, through negotiation, protest, music, accommodation, prayer, faith and sometimes sheer stubbornness. Memphis is a principal character in this collection as a geographically and historically critical stopping point for some and home to many African Americans across class, gender, church, and political affiliations. Scholars intellectually and personally invested in the city as a site of family and community, and career, bring an unequivocal depth of understanding and richness about place and belonging that textures the pages with life, from the church pews, the music studios, or the myriad of social or political organizations, to the land itself, adding more layers to underscore how black lives have mattered in the historical grassroots building of the nation. This is thoughtful and beautiful work.

Françoise Hamlin

Offering a panoramic view of how black Memphians responded to racial exclusion and state violence, the essays sketch a long black freedom movement beginning near the end of Reconstruction, with its reverberations extending into the 21st century.

Public Books