Partridge, Elizabeth. 2009. Marching for Freedom: Walk
Together Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary. New York: Viking. ISBN
978-0670011896.
Tougas, Shelley. 2011. Birmingham 1963: How a Photograph
Rallied Civil Rights Support. Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books. ISBN
978-0756543983.
Everyone these days has a general knowledge of the Civil
Rights Movement. Martin Luther King,
Jr., has a public holiday. Barrak Obama
was elected as the first African-American President of the United States. Black artists and entertainers are among the top-grossing
and most beloved performers in the music, fashion, and television and film
industries. It is difficult for young
people today to imagine a segregated world, the scary kind, where simply
talking to someone with a different skin color could get you shunned, bullied,
or beaten. Because it is so hard to
imagine, young people today are in danger of taking the fight for Civil Rights
for granted, of forgetting the sacrifices of the generation who earned their
freedom. In Birmingham 1963 and Marching
for Freedom, authors Tougas and Partridge narrow in on two harrowing years
in Alabama.
With insightful, historical media analysis, Tougas tells the
story behind one of LIFE Magazine’s “Great Pictures of the Century.” Charles Moore grew up in Alabama during a
time when segregation was an accepted way of life. Although his father, a minister, did not
allow him to use racial slurs or mistreat African-Americans, Moore paid little
attention to their troubles, instead focusing on his interest in
photography. After serving in the
Marines, Moore returned to Alabama to work at the Montgomery Advertiser. Moore’s timing coincided with the arrival of Martin
Luther King, Jr., in Montgomery, and he soon began to cover various speeches,
rallies and protests organized by civil rights leaders. This is how he happened to be in the right
place at the right time to capture a photograph of 14-year-old Carolyn Maull
and two teen boys being slammed against a building by a blast of water from
fireman’s hoses in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 3, 1963. This is how he captured a photograph that
rallied Civil Rights Support from all over the world.
Partridge picks up the narrative where Tougas ends by detailing
the impact that the Birmingham Children’s Crusade had on African-Americans in
nearby Selma, Alabama, in 1964. While
their counterparts in Birmingham marched for desegregation in downtown
businesses, the African-Americans in Selma were gathering peacefully to protest
unjust laws which kept them from voting.
The narrative is set forth chronologically, following the events leading
up to the organization of the famous Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery,
including Bloody Sunday, a day-by-day account of the march, and the passing of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Both of these books are welcome additions to any Middle
School or High School collection because they focus on the power of young
people in the Civil Rights Movement.
Until reading these two books, I had never had a chance to study these
movements in detail and was not aware of the great extent to which the movement
was one of youth empowerment. I didn’t
know that children were jailed, some as young as 8-years-old, for peaceful
protesting. Both books do a fantastic
job of setting the children’s movement within the larger context of Civil
Rights and civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph
Abernathy, and James Bevel. Yet they go
beyond, to capture eye-witness accounts from the children who marched at the
time, the children in the photographs included in the book. Both books talk about the power of images and
the skillful ways in which MLK and the SNCC and SCLC manipulated the media to
sway sentiment toward the plight of the African-American community, yet they do
not dodge the difficult ethical question of putting children in harm’s
way. Was it right of Civil Rights
leaders to ask innocent children to willingly march into situations where they
were likely to be beaten with billy clubs, bitten by police dogs, jailed, or
even worse, killed?
These two books are full of primary source photography and
interviews. Their oversized formats make
the pictures easy to read. The texts are
clear with adequate kerning and line spacing.
Tougas’ book is written at a slightly lower reading level, with more
sidebars inserted for additional information.
Partridge’s book is appropriate for a slightly more informed audience,
but is very clearly sequenced. Both
books contain excellent back matter, bibliographies and additional
resources. They would be excellent
studies for individual or group presentations in a US history or social studies
class, shedding light on some lesser known events in the timeline of the Civil
Rights Movement.
Rewards and Reviews for Elizabeth Partridge, Marching for
Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction, 2010
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
IRA Notable Book, 2010
YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Notable Book
Effective
and meaningful archival photographs, quotes, poems, and songs are woven
throughout the narrative, giving readers a real sense of the children’s mindset
and experiences. The bibliography, source notes, photo credits, and resources
for further discussion and research are exemplary. An excellent addition to any
library. School Library Journal, starred review
Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit
as dramatic as the best fiction. … With a perfect balance of energetic prose
and well-selected, breathtaking photographs, the volume portrays the fight for
the heart of America. Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Partridge provides just enough context of the Jim Crow South
to orient readers before plunging readers into the dramatic and harrowing
events of the march. Partridge once again demonstrates why she is almost
peerless in her photo selection. Horn Book, starred review
Reviews for Birmingham 1963: How a Photograph Rallied Civil
Rights Support
…a motivating introduction to the period it describes, and
the photographic analysis makes [it] a valuable source for team teachers of
social studies and language arts. Lucy Schall, Voice of Youth Advocates,
August 2011
Pair with...
Birmingham, 1963, a narrative poem by Carole Boston
Weatherford, which combines primary source photography and commemorates the
bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the death of four
girls on Sunday, September 15, 1963.
This event takes place between the events of both books reviewed above.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, a young adult novel by
Christopher Paul Curtis, in which a young boy deals with the aftermath of the 16th
Street Baptist Church Bombing.
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