An emotionally evocative, richly textured history based on
autobiographical accounts of those who lived and shaped the
struggle. The importance of many of Rogers' subjects and the
uniqueness of New Orleans make this must reading for anyone
interested in the history of the movement. But those interested in
oral history and African-American autobiography will find riches
aplenty as well. A welcome addition to a number of
literatures
--"Doug McAdam, author of Freedom Summer"
Righteous Lives skillfully blends oral history with a perceptive
analysis of three generations of civil rights leadership in New
Orleans. Rogers has revealed not only what people did, but what
they remember, and how their assessments of their activism have
changed over time.
--"Donald A. Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historical Office"
"Rogers paints a slightly less rosy picture, one in which the
Louisiana un-American Activities Committee staged a raid on the
offices of the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), and the
City Council passed laws prohibiting the right to peaceful
assembly, paving the way to jailing protesters."
--"Gambit Weekly"
This important study provides fresh insights into the lives of
both black and white civil rights leaders, documents the diversity
of individuals and motivations, and traces movement history in a
major southern city. Well written and well researched, this book is
highly recommended for readers at all levels.
--"Choice"
Charts the distinctly different experiences and memories of 25
black and white civil rights activists of three 'generations' in
New Orleans, opening with a deft sketch of the city's unusual
racial background with its black Creole caste.
--"Publishers Weekly"
An important study, full of valuable information, profoundly
moving testimony, and provocative insights.
--"The Journal of Southern History"
A major contribution to our understanding of the civil rights
movement. RIGHTEOUS LIVES illustrates the complexity of movements
for social change, the long history of seemingly spontaneous
conflicts, and the personal consequences of political activism.
Rogers reveals how issues of caste and class, of gender and
generation divided the black community in New Orleans, while her
in-depth interviews and observations bring to the surface
previously unexamined contradictions within the white southern
experience as well. RIGHTEOUS LIVES also offers perceptive and
thought-provoking insights into broader issues of collective and
individual memory, life history, and autobiography. It evokes the
struggle for African-American self-determination in the Crescent
City with clarity and conviction, and it stands as a fitting
testimonial to the courageous men and women whose voices provide so
much of the book's fascinating narratives and textures.
-- "George Lipsitz, University of California, San Diego"
When former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke campaigned for
governor in late 1991, race relations in Louisiana were thrust
dramatically into the national spotlight. New Orleans, the
political and economic hub of the state, is in many ways
representative of Louisiana's unique racial mix, a fusion of
African-American, Caribbean, European, and white Southern cultures.
An old, colorful port famous for its French and Spanish heritage,
distinctive architecture, and jazz, New Orleans was a peculiarly
segregated city in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, despite its
complicated racial and ethnic identity and heated desegregation
battles, New Orleans, unlike other Southern cities such as
Birmingham, did not explode.
In this moving work, Kim Rogers tells the stories, in their own
words, of the New Orleans' civil rights workers who fought to deter
the racial terrorism that scarred much of the South in the 1950s
and 1960s. Spanning three generations of activists, RIGHTEOUS LIVES
traces the risks, triumphs, and disappointments that characterized
the lives of New Orleans activists. Chronicling watershed moments
in the movement, Rogers' compelling narrative illustrates how
blacks and whites worked together to decompress the tensions that
accompanied desegregation in the ethnic mosaic of New Orleans.
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