NetGalley ARC | Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era

I received a free digital copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It is a story told many times over but must continue to be told, even after justice has been served - or as much justice as possible anyway, which truthfully is still not enough. I can't imagine there is anyone unfamiliar with Mississippi Burning (from the US, anyway), but I will briefly summarize it anyway.

On the night of June 21st, 1964, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered by klansmen for their work in helping African Americans register to vote. The trio were stopped for speeding and taken to the local jail. After several hours the men were released. They'd not traveled far when they were again stopped. The three men were abducted at gun point, shot to death, and buried in a shallow grave. Their bodies would not be discovered for two months. Despite the fact that everyone knew who had committed the murders, no one was charged in the ensuing decades. These monsters thought they'd gotten away with murder like so many before and after them.

When investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell took on this giant, it would be his work that led to the reopening of the case, in addition to three others from the era: the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair; the assassination of Medgar Evers; and the murder of Vernon Dahmer.

Mitchell's attention was first drawn to the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner during a viewing of the film "Mississippi Burning". The story goes that as he was watching, the man next to him repeatedly commented on things that were or were not accurate in the movie. Afterward they talked and Mitchell learned the man was Roy K. Moore, a retired FBI agent in charge of Mississippi when the murders took place. They joined in conversation with another retired FBI agent, as well a reporter who had originally covered the murders back in the '60s. Mitchell learned no one had been prosecuted and he could not fathom why. The identities of the men were widely known, yet the state had never acted. Even after one of the klansmen confessed, the GOVERNOR refused to let it be pursued it any further.

So, Mitchell got to work - and work it would be. The downside to investigating heinous crimes from earlier decades is the pesky fact he addresses with the very title of the book. He was in a literal race against time to uncover whatever he could in order for the families to seek justice; witnesses to the murders and the suspects themselves weren't getting any younger. And as always, with the passage of time goes one's memories. Yet Mitchell pressed on, getting whatever information he could to force the FBI to re-open the cases.

Mitchell's investigation brought new evidence to light as he and law enforcement agents also began combing through the old casefiles. He is the first to say he could not have done this on his own and it is true. So many were involved in propelling all four cases forward, though I think we can say that none of the murderers might have ever been brought to justice if not for the chance meeting between Mitchell and Moore the night of the premier.

The importance of this book can't be overstated. It is all the documentation one needs to see that even when it seems like there is no hope, all it takes sometimes is one person to change the course. You have to admire Mitchell's commitment; though the klan might be a little quieter now, it still exists. As a result, Mitchell received numerous death threats from the kkk. Not only that, but he was also uncovering a plethora of information that pointed (unsurprisingly) to the state's own involvement in obstructing investigations and covering up the crimes. Despite the danger in his work, Mitchell sought every last scrap of information he could find, interviewed many who would rather have seen their secrets stayed buried, and pursued the perpetrators relentlessly so that the families of the victims could finally come to some kind of peace knowing their loved ones had not died in vain, and that their stories would live on alongside the fact that these cowardly men who hid their faces would not escape justice after all.

Highly highly recommended.

Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 Stars

I loved this book. I could not put it down, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is a beautiful living history of so many women who did so much of the hard work to keep the movement going. That does not mean women like Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks are unimportant, it simply means that we are finally learning the names of so many other women who made great contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, who are often overlooked because they did the everyday grunt work, doing what needed to be done.

A second reason why I loved this book so much is that I teach in a school that is predominantly African American. Specifically I teach in a Behavior Skills classroom, which means my class size is smaller and comprised of students who have been diagnosed with an emotional disturbance, sometimes among other disorders as well. These students especially need to see others who look like them, achieving and being successful. I am a firm believer, and research supports this, that children need to see members of both their gender and their race in positions of success as role models, to see just what is possible for someone who looks like them to achieve. HERE is a great article from a couple years ago explaining some of the research. So when I have in my hands a book that showcases some very exceptional women, I know already that it will be useful in my classroom.

To ensure that I am doing what I can to pass on the names of these brave and inspirational woman, I want to list them before delving into the text a little further. Commit them to memory, and learn all you can. Their unique stories are endlessly fascinating not only as African Americans fighting for equal rights regardless of race, but as powerful women making their mark on the movement to show that gender would also not be a factor in holding anyone back. Female leadership was key and it is about time that these women, and I'm sure countless others, were given their due recognition (links go to various articles/websites about each woman):

 

Aileen Hernandez

Diane Nash

Gloria Richardson

Leah Chase

Myrlie Evers

Judy Richardson

Dr. June Jackson Christmas

Gay McDougall

Kathleen Cleaver

The author chose these nine women whose experiences in that turbulent time are remarkable for both how similar and different they were. Most of the women are in their 80s now, and to read their stories felt like I was there, part of the conversation. The events they described were so vivid, the fear and the exhilaration all at once, I felt it as I read every single word. Each voice was clear and authentic, it did not feel like the same person speaking, over and over.

I have read my fair share of history told in this format and compiling an oral history seems easy enough on the surface: interview some people and record exactly what they say. Easy, no? Well, not really. The Civil Rights Movement was so huge, with so many working parts, sometimes trying to get everyone to work together so that the movement would 'keep moving' so to speak, could be difficult. The same goes for attempts at oral histories. The parts of the whole have to flow to keep the narrative moving. I think the author has done a fantastic job in piecing together this important history. For me personally there were no lulls, or places where I wished the stories were longer or shorter. It flows well, even as we are given such widely varying perspectives of the time. Though their accomplishments were not the same, the impact of their hard work and dedication will still be felt for many years to come.

Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America

Rating: 5 Stars

As I finished the book, I recalled Mother Mobley's remarks about a speech she had to give in one of her college courses when they were assigned to give a eulogy. Naturally she delivered a eulogy for her beloved son and when her speech was over another student asked what grade she would receive. The instructor, who she said was particularly hard on her, said to grade it would diminish it. I feel the same way about the book. To pick it apart and analyze it and all of that, this is not the book to do so.

It is a testament to a mother's love for her only baby, one who was so brutally tortured and murdered. This book should be required reading for everyone in high school. We are not as advanced as we believe we are as a society and I think the vitriol aimed at President Obama and his family is proof of that, as are the absolute disgusting displays of white guys marching with tiki torches. This book absolutely ripped my heart out and I cried so much. I can't ever fathom that kind of pain, to not only lose a child, but to lose one in such a horrific way. Especially because I truly got to know Emmett Till - who he was as a baby, a young boy, and then there on the verge of becoming a young man. I only knew the bare bones of this story prior to this book. Long before that awful Accessory-To-Murder finally spoke and said she made the whole story up, I think we all knew it was a giant lie. This is further confirmed by Mother Mobley's words. There is no way in hell, with her raising Emmett the way she did, that he would have for one moment said any of the things it was claimed he said - let alone even whistled at that woman. I can't even speak or write her name, she disgusts me just as much as those who physically carried out the lynching. In a way, I am kind of glad that Mother Mobley did not live long enough to hear about the retraction. She had suffered so much in her long life, and while I know she knew quite plainly that none of it had been true, to hear it confirmed might have been too much. To relive it all again, knowing that no matter what Emmett had said or done that day, nothing would ever even come a tiny smidge close to justifying his lynching, would be unbearable as a mother. It is hard enough to wrap my brain around, that there were people who lived with this kind of hate in their heart - and still live that way today.

This is an important book, and one that needs to be read widely. Highly recommended, a must-read. It is still currently on sale over at Amazon for $1.99. Possibly other sellers too, I found it via BookBub.

Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture

I received this ARC free via NetGalley from Proud Legacy Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5 Stars

This is yet another ARC that I had put aside in 2017 when life was crazy hectic and I wish I had not. This book is so important to our nation's history and the specific struggle that our African American brothers and sisters have endured in fighting to be recognized as citizens in their own country. This book needs to be taught in all high school history classes.

In this text Robert L. Wilkins tells the story of how the National Museum of African American History and Culture finally came into being, after decades of starts and stops, permeated by the latent and outright racism of several players in this saga. Judge Wilkins writes not of the museum itself and the numerous artifacts, oral histories, and exhibits, or the celebrities who lent their time to its creation, but of what it took to actually get the museum built in the first place. He has exhaustively searched archives and all possible repositories of knowledge to find every single instance of attempts to create a museum of African American history and the multiple reasons those plans were halted. This became a kind of obsession for Judge Wilkins, first leading him to cut back on his time as a public defender to devote time to his goal of seeing a museum dedicated to the sacrifice and struggle of African Americans and their place in US history. I think Wilkins job as a public defender really helped him realize his greater purpose and it is something the author touches on at various points. He mentions that the majority of his clients are young black and Hispanic men, many of whom he says don't see a future for themselves when he asks where they see themselves in five years. The heartbreaking answer is that some do not even see themselves as being alive in five years. These young men, many still teenage boys, did not care much to know the history of the Civil Rights Movement, how people died for their right to attend proper schools and get the education they deserved. But, Wilkins also discovered something else: when many of these same boys and young men were incarcerated, they started reading because they had nothing else to do. When they truly learned about all that it took to get the access to that education, it opened their eyes to opportunities they had wasted. Wilkins saw the museum as an opportunity not only to showcase the achievements and contributions of African Americans, but to be an inspiration to the young men and women who saw only a bleak future for themselves.

Through this book Judge Wilkins chronicles the attempts by various groups to create a space to honor African American history. it begins with the exclusion of black troops being honored after the Civil War ended. Various excuses were made as to why the troops were not invited, and none were acceptable. To rectify this, on the 50th anniversary of the original Review, again when African American units were excluded, supporters first attempted to create a monument to these men who fought for the Union and were all but erased from history. Through the era of Jim Crow, which saw lynchings become a disgusting sport, these advocates sought to create a national museum. Decades of obstacles followed, including the back and forth on whether the Smithsonian should be involved, should it be located on the Mall, and so on. I was so very disappointed to read of the specific lack of interest from the Smithsonian in the creation of a national museum. As I was reading I did not understand the hesitation, as I hoped that surely such a bastion of culture and knowledge could not also be so deeply entrenched in systematic racism. I was disheartened to see an institution I held in such high esteem could be on the wrong side of history. Yet, it was.

In his quest to see this vision come to fruition, Wilkins was named as a member of the Presidential Commission. The commission was tasked with writing the plan to create the museum, the space to be used, and so on. Wilkins poured over every single document related to the attempts to create a museum in the past, also taking note of what the reasons were for the project not moving forward. All of this culminated in a report that was finally accepted and 100 years after this journey first began, Congress finally authorized the museum. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in September of 2016.

As I wrote earlier, this is a book that must be taught in high school history classes. Until we as a nation confront the fact that so much of our history is steeped in the horrors of  slavery and discrimination, from the rise of the KKK to Birth of a Nation, and everything beyond, this is a very real part of shaping our nation even today. It took so long for this museum to become a reality, far longer than it should have. Not until a bipartisan effort of both Democrats and Republicans, an effort also supported by George W. Bush, did this happen. This is something important to consider, and is worth reflecting on. Why did it take so long? I think the answer is a hard truth that we don't want to see.

While the text itself is not terribly long, there are extensive notes (12% of the ARC) that highlight the numerous sources the author drew on in his quest to see this project through to the end. I highly recommend this to all.