The Children by David Halberstam
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Like the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the civil rights mo vement has
achieved mythical status in America--an epic tale of heroes and martyrs;
of sacrifice, honor, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds; of
ideals worth dying for in a time and place where death was an all-too-real
possibility. In The Children, prize-winning journalist and author David
Halberstam goes back in time to the beginnings of the civil rights
movement in Nashville, Tennessee, tracing both the lives of the
individuals who initiated it and the growth of the movement itself into i ts
present-day status. Every epic must have its hero, and The Children has
James Lawson, a young, African American divinity student whose tactics
in civil disobedience were learned at the knees of Mahatma Gandhis
followers during a three-year stint as a missionary to India. When he
returned to the States and was accepted into the all-white Vanderbilt
Divinity School, Lawson began teaching workshops to Nashvilles African
American youth designed to equip them for the equal-rights struggle, a
battle Lawson believed could be won only with nonviolent tactics.
Halberstam chronicles the fight against racism with the insight that comes
from witnessing it first-hand. As a young journalist for the Tennessean in
Nashville, he covered the rise of the civil rights movement, and in The
Children he draws on many of his writings from the era. From accounts of
lunch-counter sit-ins to the freedom rides, Halberstams book covers the
map of the crusade for racial equality, serving as a poignant reminder that
heroes come in all ages, colors, and characters.
David Halberstam has written so many great works, but THE CHILDREN
may be his greatest achievement. From the outset, this book takes
readers on a journey through the civil rights movement through the eyes of
both the courageous young people who had decided that our society had
to change and the adults who helped them to bring this needed change to
America. The book captures readers from the beginning as Halberstam
gives a very intimate look at the fear Diane Nash experienced as one of
the leaders of Nashvilles sit-in movement. The first chapter gives readers
a window through which to see the conflicting forces that collided in the
heart and mind of Ms. Nash as she contemplated the enormity of what she
was doing: changing the south against the wishes of many who, if they had
their way, would just as soon hang her as look at her.
The chapters of this work flow so well, and the reader is introduced to so
many who made the civil rights movement what it was: Diane Nash, John
Lewis, Bernard Lafayette, Jim Lawson, James Bevel, C.T. Vivian, etc. etc.
etc. The book, a work of historical non-fiction reads almost like a novel.
Readers are drawn in by the stories of these heroes, and their triumphs
and tragedies take readers on a roller-coaster ride of emotion as they are
thrust into this amazing struggle.
Halberstam tells a great story, but the story he tells in this book tops them
all. I have read many, many books on the movement, and this is my
favorite. I had the tremendous honor to meet John Lewis last summer,
and as we talked about much of what he experienced during this period,
he asked me Have you read THE CHILDREN? When I told them that I
had, he commented about what a great book he thought it was and how
Halberstam had perfectly captured, as much as possible, what that time
was like for those of us who werent there. John Lewis is a personal hero
of mine, and I can think of no better praise for this book. On that note, I
would also highly recommend Mr. Lewis book WALKING WITH THE WIND
for those who havent read it and want another good civil rights title.
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