Origins of the Civil Rights Movements

Aldon Morris writes the history of the Civil Rights Movement as the gradual organization of black communities in the South in response to Jim Crow. Morris' account begins with early protests in North Carolina, Tennessee and other peripheral states that multiplied and culminated in the more well-known actions in Alabama and Georiga. Throughout the account, Morris emphasizes the indigenous nature of the movement - black communities organizing around black institutions (the black church) with their own financial and infrastructural resources. The research for the project was conducted via interviews with many of the movement's leaders, so Morris is able to give first-hand accounts of the way protests were conducted and of the motivations for organizing in certain ways at certain times. His account is extraordinarily rich and touches on the interplay between the often conflicting personalities of movement leaders. He describes the means and motivation of the adoption of the non-violent protest method and, to a lesser extent, the roles played by women in the movement. He also deals in passing with the ideological treatment of homosexuality by movement leaders. As an account of how the civil rights movement developed in the South, Morris' book is exceptional. It reads as well as a novel and uses the input of first-hand sources to make its story as much personal as academic, without losing its integrity. Some have argued that Morris neglects the role of women in the movement and this might be a fair criticism. But inasmuch as he argues that the civil rights movement was organized around and by the leaders of the black church, he justifies his focus on the (male) Baptist minister as a principle leader of movement activities. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand how the Civil Rights Movement was carried out in the United States.

Articulate and provocative, Aldon Morris' study of the American Civil Rights Movement is a comprehensive and comprehensible analysis of a strategic struggle for human survival and essential dignity. Emphasizing that African Americans have rarely accepted the subordinate position forced upon them, that the Civil Rights Movement was carefully orchestrated rather than a series of random events, and that women played a critical role in the organization and implementation of the movement, Morris incisively resurrects and dismantles official discourses. In the tradition of John Hope Franklin's "From Slavery to Freedom", Lerone Bennett's "Forced into Glory", and Ivan Van Sertima's "They Came Before Columbus", Morris reconstructs history with a fresh perspective. Morris' extensive use of the interview technique enables the reader to probe the minds of the makers and shakers of the movement, as we hear them speak in their own words. Somewhat academic in its approach, yet eminently readable, "Origins of the Civil Rights Movement" can be understood and appreciated by middle school students, academicians, and history buffs alike. It is a must-read for those interested in a complete understanding of American history in general and of African American history in particular.