Thunder of Freedom : Black Leadership and the Transformation of 1960s Mississippi.

Sojourner, Sue [Lorenzi].

Thunder of Freedom : Black Leadership and the Transformation of 1960s Mississippi. - 1st ed. - 1 online resource (333 pages) - Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century Series . - Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century Series .

Front cover -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Photographs -- Foreword -- Reflections on the Local Movement -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Part 1. Becoming Part of Holmes County -- 1. From California to Mississippi -- 2. What We Walked Into -- 3. Mileston -- 4. The Holmes County Community Center -- Part 2. Working with the People -- 5. The Congressional Challenge and Marching for Freedom -- 6. School Desegregation, Head Start, and the Medical Committee -- 7. Voter Registration -- 8. The Greenville Air Base Demonstratioin and the Community Action Program -- Part 3. Building Political Strategies -- 9. Political Organizing -- 10. The Meredith March -- 11. The November 1966 Elections and Coalition Building -- 12. Reading "The Some People" Story and a Trip North -- Part 4. Developing the Slate of Candidates -- 13. Selecting the FDP Candidates from Holmes -- 14. Black and White Issues with SNCC Workers -- 15. The Success of the 1967 Holmes County Elections -- 16. Changed Lives -- Afterword -- Acknowledgments -- Chronology of Movement Events in Holmes County and the United States -- Index.

The world's eyes were on Mississippi during the summer of 1964, when civil rights activists launched an ambitious African American voter registration project and were met with violent resistance from white supremacists. Sue Sojourner and her husband arrived in Holmes County, Mississippi, in the wake of this historic time, known as "Freedom Summer." From September 1964 until her departure from the state in 1969, Sojourner collected an incredible number of documents, oral histories, and photographs chronicling the dramatic events that she witnessed. In this remarkable book, written in collaboration with Cheryl Reitan, Sojourner presents a fascinating account of one of the civil rights movement's most active and broad-based community organizing operations in the South. Thunder of Freedom unites Sojourner's personal experiences with her insights regarding the dynamics of race relations in the 1960s South, providing readers with a unique look at the struggle for rights and equality in Mississippi. Illustrated with selections from Sojourner's acclaimed catalog of photographs, this profound book tells the powerful, often intimate stories of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.

9780813140957


African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--History--20th century.
Civil rights movements--Mississippi--History--20th century.
African American leadership--Mississippi--History--20th century.
Mississippi--Race relations--History--20th century.


Electronic books.

E185.93.M6L67 2013

323.1196/07307620904