Read the Introduction.
"Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2002"
aThe quality of each individual essay makes" Sisters in the
Struggle" stand out as an unusual anthology, one whose total sum is
actually more than its partsa
--Journal of American History
"Sisters in the Struggle is a powerful, inspirational and
insightful book that takes the reader on a journey into the lives
of some of the nation's most gifted and courageous African American
women leaders, feminist organizers, and Black Power advocates. It
was through the dint of their efforts that they helped shape and
define what American society should become. These "sheroes" remind
us that the prices they paid for freedom bequeathed a legacy of
human dignity and opportunity that must be sustained by generations
to follow."
--Joyce A. Ladner, author of "Tomorrow's Tomorrow: The Black
Woman"
If Bettye Collier-Thomas and V.P. Franklin had only gathered
together a distinguished group of scholars to document the role
woman played in the black freedom movement, their contribution
would be immense. But Sisters in the Struggle is more than an
acknowledgment and celebration of black woman's activism. It is a
major revision of history, revealing that black women were the
critical thinkers, strategists, fighters, and dreamers of the
movement. Black feminists developed a social vision expansive
enough to emancipate us all."
--Robin D.G. Kelley, author of "Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and
the Black Working Class"
Women were at the forefront of the civil rights struggle, but
their indvidiual stories were rarely heard. Only recently have
historians begun to recognize the central role women played in the
battle forracial equality.
In Sisters in the Struggle, we hear about the unsung heroes of
the civil rights movements such as Ella Baker, who helped found the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Fannie Lou Hamer, a
sharecropper who took on segregation in the Democratic party (and
won), and Septima Clark, who created a network of "Citizenship
Schools" to teach poor Black men and women to read and write and
help them to register to vote. We learn of Black women's activism
in the Black Panther Party where they fought the police, as well as
the entrenched male leadership, and the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, where the behind-the-scenes work of women
kept the organization afloat when it was under siege. It also
includes first-person testimonials from the women who made
headlines with their courageous resistance to segregation--Rosa
Parks, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and Dorothy Height.
This collection represents the coming of age of African-American
women's history and presents new stories that point the way to
future study.
Contributors: Bettye Collier-Thomas, Vicki Crawford, Cynthia
Griggs Fleming, V. P. Franklin, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Farah
Jasmine Griffin, Duchess Harris, Sharon Harley, Dorothy I. Height,
Chana Kai Lee, Tracye Matthews, Genna Rae McNeil, Rosa Parks,
Barbara Ransby, Jacqueline A. Rouse, Elaine Moore Smith, and Linda
Faye Williams.
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