Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives

by Michael Ezra

Overview

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

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598840377
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/13/2009
Series:	Perspectives in American Social History
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Ezra is associate professor of American multicultural studies and chair of the American Multicultural Studies Department at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA.

Table of Contents

Series Introduction,
Introduction,
About the Editor and Contributors,
Chronology,
1 Early Pioneers,
Marsha Darling
2 Student Activists,
Francis Shor
3 Religion and Clergy,
Jill K. Gill
4 Southern Civil Rights Organizations,
Lauren Chambers, Aggie Ebrahimi, and Barbara McCaskill
5 Organizations outside the South:NAACP and CORE,
Michael Ezra
6 Black Nationalists,
Yusuf Nuruddin
7 The Black Panther Party,
Arica L. Coleman
8 Women,
Jennifer A.Lemak
Primary Documents,
Reference,
Bibliography,
Index,

Editorial Reviews

Ezra's (Muhummad 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. …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 to further research. Ezra's work shines in both these areas. All libraries should own this title.” —Library Jourbanal, Starred Review

“For high school and undergraduate college courses, this social history documents the work of people involved in the civil rights movement, expanding the definition of the movement to include events before and after the era of Martin Luther King, Jr., the work of everyday people, black nationalism, and struggles outside the South. The eight essays take into account the three methods of defining the civil rights movement (in terms of the King years, as a longer civil rights movement, and through the civil rights/black power dichotomy), and cover the contributions of early pioneers, student activists, clergy, southern civil rights organizations, the NAACP and CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality), black nationalists, the Black Panther Party, and women. Primary source documents, such as Supreme Court documents and a speech by Malcolm X,
and short biographical sketches, are included. Essays are by US scholars of black studies, history, American multicultural studies, and English.” —Reference & Research Book News

“The value of [this title] is the accessibility for student researchers to pull out chapters pertaining to their area of study. Recommended.” —Library Media Connection

“…provides an excellent resource for students studying this period. . . . The essays are of substantial length, provide a depth not found in other works, and make for fascinating, inspiring, and heart-rending reading. . . . The Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives would be a meaningful addition to high school, undergraduate, and public library collections and is highly recommended.” —Reference & User Services Quarterly

“This book is a useful addition to any library that has a collection on African American history and the civil rights movement.” —ARBAonline

“…a useful reference work that deserves to be read by undergraduate and graduate students, as well as general readership…public and academic libraries would enhance their reference collections by acquiring this book.” —H-Net Book Review

“Highly recommended for high school, community and undergraduate colleges, and public libraries.” —Catholic Library World

From the Publisher

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.

Library Journal