271: The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle

The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle

One of the problems with historical events as substantial as the Civil Rights movement is that because we've heard about it so much we think we know what happened. Rosa Parks sat on a bus, King dreamed and marched and yadda yadda yadda we got Civil Rights. The reality is far more complicated and fascinating than what we think we know about the movement. The lessons learned through this period are in danger of being lost if we don't continue reminding ourselves how conflicted and challenging the Civil Rights movement really was. This collection is the primary source material -- letters, speeches, court rulings, interviews, etc. -- to accompany the ground-breaking documentary Eyes on the Prize.

Why this is progressive/liberal: Progressives are often accused of not being able to get things done. Despite mobilizing millions of people to protest the Global War on Terror, for example, there has been no discernible impact. So, it's important to remember that the progressive struggles to create a more egalitarian society do succeed, though it sometimes takes generations.



Another book on the Civil Rights movement worth picking up is Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Raymond Arsenault.