Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain: The Extraordinary Story of Love, Civil Rights, and Labor Activism

by Norman Hill, Velma Murphy Hill

Overview

The remarkable story of a couple who came together during the civil rights movement and made fighting for equality and civil and workers’ rights their purpose for more than sixty years, overcoming adversity—with the strength of their love and commitment—to bring about meaningful change.

“A chronicle of lives of unwavering dedication. Now in their 80s, labor and civil rights activists Norman and Velma Hill recount more than six decades of struggles, triumphs, and frustrations in their tireless work as ‘crusaders for democracy.’... An inspiring joint memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews

When Velma Murphy was knocked unconscious by a brick thrown by a man from an angry white mob and was carried away by Norman Hill, it was the beginning of a six-decade-long love story and the turmoil, excitement, and struggle for civil rights and labor movements. In Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain, the Hills reflect upon their more than half a century of fighting to make America realize the best of itself.

Through profound conversations between the two, Velma and Norman Hill share their earliest memories of facing racial segregation in the 1960s, working with Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, and A. Philip Randolph, crossing paths with Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. They also reveal how they kept white supremacists like David Duke from taking office, organized workers into unions, met with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and continued to work tirelessly, fighting the good fight and successfully challenging power with truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888452820
Publisher:	Regalo Press
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	157,695
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Norman Hill was the national program director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), staff coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, staff representative of the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO, and president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute from 1980 to 2004, the longest tenure in the organization’s history. He remains its president emeritus.

Velma Murphy Hill, a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was a leader of the Chicago Wade-In to integrate Rainbow Beach, East Coast field secretary for CORE, and assistant to the president of the United Federation of Teachers, where she unionized 10,000 paraprofessionals, mostly Black and Hispanic, working in New York public schools. She was vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and International Affairs and civil rights director of the Service Employees International Union.

The Hills were the only Black couple to hold leadership positions in the civil rights and labor movements.

Editorial Reviews

Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain is the powerful memoir of Norman and Velma Murphy Hill, two lifelong warriors in the struggles for racial equality, economic justice, and democracy. The Hills bring to their story the unique perspective of participants in the making of our nation’s history—from the direct action campaign to integrate Chicago’s Rainbow Beach, the Route 40 freedom riders, and the 1963 March on Washington to the 1968 strike of Memphis sanitation workers in which Martin Luther King would be assassinated and the successful drive to organize New York City’s paraprofessionals into the United Federation of Teachers. In the civil rights, labor, and democratic socialist movements, they labored shoulder-to-shoulder with King, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Al Shanker, and others, and their narrative brings these figures and their historic work to life. As new generations of activists in the freedom and labor movements take up the baton of these struggles today, the authoritative account of Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain provides an indispensable guide.

Randi Weingarten

Norman Hill and Velma’s memoir reminds us all of the transformative power vested in a community organized from shared experience to bring about real change. The struggle for civil rights in the United States is not defined by any one moment, but by the collective stories of people across this country who put their lives on the line in hopes that America might one day live up to its promise. It is my sincere hope that the new generation of emerging activists and leaders will be inspired by this book as they chart a course forward to tackle the many challenges facing African Americans today.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters

Norman Hill and Velma Murphy Hill have written a compelling, richly detailed and thoroughly gripping account of their involvement in the civil rights and organized labor movements. It is so important, now more than ever, to remember the struggles that redefined the trajectory of American history, as we moved from the dark era of Jim Crow segregation and racism to a brighter era where we have come that much closer to realizing the ideals of freedom and dignity for all citizens. For the Jewish community, the missions the Hills took to Israel helped strengthen African-American support for the Jewish state."

Abraham H. Foxman

Norman and Velma Hill began Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain as young, idealist, warmly romantic students who were united around a common mission—to challenge the status quo of race relations in this country and to champion the values of their African American heritage. Theirs is a story of audacious youth who became tenacious partners in the risky and often unrewarding struggle to organize for social and economic justice against all odds. A must-read chronicle of a time in our history that offers a clear remembrance for those who lived it; and, serves as a platform on which future activists can stand. Bravo, Norm and Velma!

Clayola Brown

Their memoir tells a vivid story of struggle and perseverance, one that both illuminates a vital chapter in the history of American democracy and will inspire a new generation of activists to renew the never-ending effort to build a just society.

Carl Gershman

Norm and Velma Hill bring history to life in their book, Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain. Their story bears witness to the experience of countless civil rights foot soldiers, who were willing to risk their lives to realizing justice and freedom for all. This memoir should be a call to action to this generation of activists as they work to build upon the progress of icons like Norm and Velma Hill. Those working for progress should read and internalize this powerful testament to passion, persistence and moral courage in the face of injustice."

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

Norman and Velma’s memoir captures the spirit of the civil rights struggle in America, their pivotal roles fighting for justice, and their enduring bond. It is a story of love, courage, integrity, hope, and determination. It serves as an essential reminder of how two brilliant minds joined forces to help change our world for the better. As we continue to fight for equality, let us turn to their words for distinct wisdom and encouragement.

Rev. Al Sharpton

This book is about two people who fell in love with each other and with the movements for social and racial justice. It is a must-read for those who are committed to a society free of racial and gender oppression and to the right of workers everywhere to share in the wealth that we help to create every day. Norman and Velma are true heroes of the civil rights and labor movements, and their efforts helped build a better society for all.

Liz Shuler

Intimate details of personal sacrifices and struggles to bring about freedom, justice, and equality in this country have been far too few. But in Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain, Norman and Velma Hill provide theirs in a powerful, compelling, and often touching narrative, not least providing information that deep-seated racial hatred and actions by racists were not unique to the South. A new generation will learn more from this book about two of those who well fit the description of giants on whose shoulders we all stand.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Norman and Velma Hill’s passion for justice—and for one another—is an inspirational story, and one that needs to be told. Their journey from idealistic young social justice soldiers to civil rights icons is quintessentially American and should be held as an example for the next generation of leaders.

Marc Morial

2023-08-03
A chronicle of lives of unwavering dedication.

Now in their 80s, labor and civil rights activists Norman and Velma Hill recount more than six decades of struggles, triumphs, and frustrations in their tireless work as “crusaders for democracy.” Beginning when they first met in 1960 on a picket line outside of a Woolworth store on Chicago’s South Side, they devoted themselves to activism. “We have organized, marched, participated in sit-ins and wade-ins, and gotten ourselves arrested, yelled at, browbeaten, harassed, even bloodied,” they write. “We have demonstrated and strategized from Chicago to Selma, from Montgomery to Mississippi, from Washington, DC, to Atlanta, from coast to coast; and then, around the world, including apartheid South Africa, Brazil, and Israel.” Mentored by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, the authors were invested in coalition politics and building majority support across race, class, and gender lines. Early in their career, they became part of a group of advisers to Martin Luther King Jr. “While we understood the role of nonviolence in the movement,” they admit, “neither one of us believed that nonviolence meant passive nonresistance.” The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which occurred on the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation, stands for them as “a defining moment for Black struggle in America,” helping usher in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Both activists held leadership positions in the national Congress of Racial Equality but resigned in 1964, when tensions between traditional civil rights ideas and Black nationalist ideas, as well as poor stewardship, weakened the organization. Velma, who had by then earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard, became deeply involved in the labor movement, counting as a major success organizing paraprofessionals into the United Federation of Teachers. They continue as advocates of reform in such issues as job training, health care, education, the environment, and prisons.

An inspiring joint memoir.

Kirkus Reviews