At the end of my Eyes on the Prize post from earlier this week, I asked people for their favorite books on the American civil rights movement. Here’s what I got back:
- Lots of people recommended America in the King Years by Taylor Branch, a trilogy of books on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.
- The second most frequently recommended book was Common Ground by J.A. Lukas, a book about busing and segregation in Boston in the 70s.
- Walking With the Wind by John Lewis and Michael D’Orso.
- Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter.
- Old news: Resurrection City by Jill Freedman.
- The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68 by Steven Kasher.
- Stride Toward Freedom and Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Eyes on the Prize by Juan Williams.
- Black Boy and Native Son by Richard Wright.
- Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Raymond Arsenault. (Eric Etheridge is photographing the Freedom Riders and pairing those photos with their Freedom Ride mugshots for a new book.)
- The Promised Land by Nick Lemann.
- You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn.
- We Are Not Afraid by Seth Cagin and Philip Dray.
- Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, and Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin.
- A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner.
- The Struggle for Black Equality by Harvard Sitkoff.
- Angela Davis An Autobiography by Angela Davis.
- Death at an Early Age by Jonathan Kozol.
- The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois.
- Southern Horrors and Other Writings by Ida B. Wells Barnett.
- Civilities and Civil Rights by William Chafe.
- I’ve Got the Light of Freedom by Charles Payne.
- Local People by John Dittmer.
- Speak Now Against the Day by John Egerton.
- Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown.
- Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
- Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves.
- I’ve Got the Light of Freedom by Charles Payne
- Local People by John Dittmer
- Speak Now Against the Day by John Egerton
Thanks to everyone for the recommendations; these all sound great.