A Circle of Trust: Remembering SNCC / Edition 1

by Cheryl Lynn Greenberg

Overview

Activists and historians reflect together on the civil rights movement and its meanings, and on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's place in American history.

"The reminiscences and reflections voiced at the SNCC reunion remind us of the remarkable vision and courageous dedication of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Framed by Cheryl Greenberg's eloquent and probing introduction, the SNCC veterans' comments about the triumphs and limitations of their movement represent a major contribution to the historical literature on race and power in modern America." —Raymond Arsenault, University of South Florida

On the occasion of the SNCC's 25th anniversary, more than 500 people gathered at Trinity College in Connecticut to both celebrate and critique its accomplishments. More than 40 SNCC members tell their stories and reflect on the contributions, limits and legacies of the movement in A Circle of Trust. Engaging in spirited debate with each other, with historians of the movement, and with contemporary political culture more broadly, these former and perpetual activists speak of their vision of a just society and what still remains to be done. With increasing racial tension and the continued debate over integration and separatism in America in the 1990s, the content of this conference is more relevant than ever.

Cheryl Lynn Greenberg begins with an overview of SNCC and introduces each of the chapters of oral history. Participants explore the origins of SNCC, its early adoption of nonviolent protest, its ultimate renunciation of liberal integration and embrace of militant black radicalism, its refusal to repudiate far-left organizations, and controversies over the roles of women in SNCC and society at large. The result is a thoughtful, moving, sometimes acrimonious, sometimes celebratory account of one of the most significant civil rights organizations and its successes and failures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813524771
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	02/01/1998
Series:	Historical Perspectives on Business
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

CHERYL LYNN GREENBERG is an associate professor of history at Trinity College and author of "Or Does It Explode?": Black Harlem in the Great Depression.

Table of Contents

The beloved community : origins of SNCC / Diane Nash [and others]
Voter registration is direct action / Charles McDew [and others]
"In the middle of the iceberg" : Mississippi and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party / Hollis Watkins [and others]
"Ordinary people" : Alabama and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization / Bernard Lafayette, Jr [and others]
"Oh freedom" : music of the movement / Bernice Johnson Reagon [and others]
SNCC women and the stirrings of feminism / Mary King [and others]
Black power / Michael Thelwell [and others]
SNCC and the practice of history / Martha Prescod Norman [and others]
Reflecting back / Michael Thelwell [and others]

Editorial Reviews

The reminiscences and reflections voiced at the SNCC reunion remind us of the remarkable vision and courageous dedication of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Framed by Cheryl Greenberg's eloquent and probing introduction, the SNCC veterans' comments about the triumphs and limitations of their movement represent a major contribution to the historical literature on race and power in modern America.

University of South Florida - Raymond Arsenault

Just as SNCC's courage and commitment shaped the civil rights movement of the 1960s, so this critical reflection by SNCC activists deepens our understanding of what happened then, and what it means today. A Circle of Trust is essential reading for all interested in struggles for a more inclusive democracy.

Harvard University - Patricia Sullivan