Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights

This book was my first introduction to a gifted writer, Tananarive Due. The book was such a great read on so many levels. It's a well-written, compelling, personal story of her mother, an unsung heroine of the civil rights movement.

Mother and daughter Patricia Stephens Due and Tananarive Due have written a fascinating and revealing look at the struggle by African-Americans to gain equal rights. The elder Due tells of her involvement with the "movement" during the turbulent 60's. She introduces the readers to the many sit-ins, jail-ins, planning conferences, and brushes with the famous and not so famous. It is those "unknown" heroes that are the revelation here. Being a neighbor to nearby Tallahassee, FL (where much of the book's events occur), my eyes were opened to the significance of developments in that city to changes that would be made nationwide. Mrs. Due writes candidly and details her convictions, as well as the dedication of her fellow "marchers/protestors". Her contributions as an author and activist are commendable and necessary reading for those interested in the period. Tananarive Due shares her upbringing in a house headed by such politically minded and socially active parents. By writing about her college days and beyond, she reminds us that things have not changed as much as they should since her mother and others trod the streets of Tallahassee. She cites the Miami riots of the 80's (the result of the senseless murder of a black motorcyclist), as well as other highly profiled instances of human abuses. The book is an essential read, if only to appreciate the people that sacrificed so much to make this country accept its creed of being "one nation for all".

"The workers opened the passenger-side door and carried out a very elderly Negro woman, who told us she was 109 years old. 'I was born a slave,' she announced. 'It's 'bout time I registered to vote.' ... (T)here were other people in Chattahoochee who wanted to register, including her ninety-year-old daughter, but they were afraid. 'They say if I come back alive, they'll come register too,' she said."I first came across Tananarive Due in a work I have previously reviewed: "Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora," by Sheree R. Thomas. Having read Due's novels to date, I periodically check the library catalog for anything new, not expecting to find a non-fiction entry. I had no real idea of her biography or her background; I just knew I had found an author I like, who is definitely worthy of more attention than she has yet received.This work, written in collaboration with her mother, Patricia Stephens Due, is excellent - start to finish. As the parent of several children in the public schools of lily-white Iowa, I see the yearly, compulsory, half-hearted "diversity studies." What this has come to mean is that every September, Martin Luther King, Jr. is beatified; every October, Christopher Columbus is reviled; every January, King is nominated for sainthood; and every February they do Black History Month, at which time it becomes okay to mention Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman. At the end of it all, you can ask any student, black or white, about Ralph Abernathy, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, the SCLC generally, or CORE and all you will get is blank stares. They will have no idea who Bull Connor was and may have only a vague sense of recognition at the name of George Wallace. Tallahassee and St. Augustine: blank stares. Birmingham and Selma: nods of vague recognition.If this book were made required reading in the high school curriculum (or at least anthologized portions of it), maybe a sense of the real struggles would stay alive. Not the struggles of white-against-black, but the struggles of activists (White and Negro)against the establishments (White and Negro), against fear, and against apathy. And, divisions within the movement itself.Daughter and mother Due quickly brush aside the revisionist histories of a Civil Rights Movement under the omnipresent eyes of Dr. King - a monolithic structure pitting white against black. The reader is constantly reminded that the civil rights movement was really made up of the diverse activities of mostly unsung heroes (White and Negro) who gave of their lives, gave up their livelihoods, and gave their very lives to the cause of freedom. The reader is not allowed to believe that the struggle is over. Nor, is the reader permitted to forget that the issue was not and is not Black versus White; it is an issue of freedom and justice - for all.Written in a comfortable, narrative style, it is nevertheless a scholarly look at the people and the times. The authors chose

Freedom in the Family by mother-daughter authors, Tananarive Due and Patricia Stephens Due, is an account of their family's involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Told in alternating chapters, the book recounts the contributions of their family, friends and supporters in an autobiographical format. Patricia Due carefully shares her personal family history as foundation for her motivation and attraction toward the principles of racial equality. She drew courage and strength from the examples her parents provided in daily life. She covers the fear, anxiety, blood, sweat, and tears that resulted from numerous sit-in's, freedom rides, marches, and rallies in such detail that I felt I had witnessed them myself. She shares her pain and dedication in heartfelt passages such as the loss of a baby during a voter registration project. Tananarive's viewpoint is that of a daughter living in the post-Civil Rights era. Her story recaps the difficulty of growing up in largely white neighborhoods and schools and of being ostracized by both blacks for being "too white" and whites for being "too black". The details of her struggle and childhood observations of her parent's lives are equally compelling as her mother's.This novel is a wonderful history lesson that includes details that uncover the fortitude and determination of many unsung heroes. The personal sacrifices (suspension/expulsion from college, permanent physical injury, and death) of "everyday people" for the sake of justice are truly admirable and honorable. For this reviewer, this book was particularly touching because Patricia goes into great detail about the forming of CORE and other noteworthy events happening at FAMU during the same era when my parents, aunts, and uncles attended. She also mentions events in other small towns in Florida where other members of my family lived, so key passages sparked a lot of memories --resulting in me getting a very personal slant on my family's viewpoints on the struggle while reading this book. This body of work is truly a labor of love and a great accomplishment for the Due family; one can only imagine the countless hours it took to pull it all together. It is an excellent memoir, a beautiful legacy, and a definite keepsake for me!Reviewed by PhyllisAPOOO BookClub, Nubian Circle Book Club