Freedom in the Family: a Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fights for Civil Rights.by Tananarive Due Tananarive Due (tuh-NAN-uh-reev DOO; born 1966) is an American author. Due is originally from Florida. Her mother is civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due.[] Due earned a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University and an M.A. and Patricia Stephens Due One World/Ballantine, January 2003 $24.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-345-44733-6 When Patricia Stephens Due was told by a group of Florida school officials that no significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement were made in the state of Florida, she did what she had always done: she took on the challenge of making right that which was grossly wrong. Refusing to accept a blanket denial of the sacrifices borne by countless men, women and children in the decades of the Civil Rights era, she chose instead to fill in history's gaping holes with a written account. Coauthored with her eldest child, acclaimed novelist Tananarive Due, mother and daughter set out not simply to prove wrong a sadly misinformed school board but more importantly to give thanks and remembrances to those who risked life and livelihood to ensure freedom for blacks in America. For years, Patricia Due had been collecting interviews with activists and researching the movement with the intention of writing an oral history. After all, Patricia, her siblings, her husband, civil rights attorney Dr. John Due Jr. and her children (including Tananarive) were involved in the fight for civil rights. Whether organizing voter drives and sit-ins for CORE or writing essays as schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school , the Due family was in the thick of it. The woman on the book jacket Noun 1. book jacket - a paper jacket for a book; a jacket on which promotional information is usually printed dust cover, dust jacket, dust wrapper jacket - an outer wrapping or casing; "phonograph records were sold in cardboard jackets" in dark glasses is Patricia leading a march, her eyes permanently damaged when a canister of tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. was thrown directly at her face by a police officer. The toddlers in the stroller on the back cover are Tananarive's younger sisters, Lydia and Johnita, pushed by Rev. Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights leader. Abernathy was born the son of a farmer in Linden, Alabama. After serving in the army during World War II, he enrolled at Alabama State University, in Montgomery, Alabama, in yet another protest march. Over three hundred pages long, this is no dull historical tome. It reads quickly and smoothly. Some of the brightest lights in the movement, including Dr. King and Stokely Carmichael Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael (June 29, 1941 – November 15, 1998), also known as Kwame Ture, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. , touch the Dues lives and are outshone only by the stories the Dues share to honor the extraordinary generosity and bravery of everyday people who gave to the struggle despite overwhelming odds. Freedom in the Family is an important and inspiring work; a tribute to those who fought before us and a reminder that we can change the world. --Zakia Munirah Carter is an editor at Africana.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion