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Donald L. Hollowell was Georgia's chief civil rights attorney
during the 1950s and 1960s. In this role he defended African
American men accused or convicted of capital crimes in a racially
hostile legal system, represented movement activists arrested for
their civil rights work, and fought to undermine the laws that
maintained state-sanctioned racial discrimination. In "Saving the
Soul of Georgia," Maurice C. Daniels tells the story of this
behindthe- scenes yet highly influential civil rights lawyer who
defended the rights of blacks and advanced the cause of social
justice in the United States.
Historian and former university president Sheldon Hackney recounts how he became an unwitting combatant in the culture wars when his nomination to become President Bill Clinton's chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities came under fire from right-wing conservatives. Hackney meticulously describes the background of ideological maneuvering that was behind not only the attacks on him but also the fierce campaign to bring down Clinton. He says, "I believe my story illustrates how the Culture War and the current media environment combine to polarize discussion until the public has no chance to understand complex issues. Not only are moderates trampled underfoot, but the great gray areas where life is actually lived, the areas of ambiguity and tradeoffs between competing values, are rendered toxic to human habitation. This is not healthy for a democracy."
In Looking Beyond Race, Otis Milton Smith (1922-94) recounts his life as an African American who overcame poverty and prejudice to become a successful politician and the first black elected to a statewide office in the nineteenth century. He went on to become the first black vice president and general counsel of General Motors. Born in the slums of Memphis, Smith was the illegitimate son of a black domestic worker and her prominent white employer. Although he identified with his mother's blackness, he inherited his father's white complexion. This left him open to racism from whites, who resented his African American heritage, and blacks, who resented his skin color. Throughout his life, Smith worked with and met many prominent Americans. He knew boxer Joe Louis, future general Daniel "Chappie" James, future Detroit mayor Coleman Young, and the nation's first African American general, B. O. Davis Jr. Through politics he knew Michigan's prominent politicians and was appointed by Governor John Swainson to the Michigan Supreme Court, making him the first black man since reconstruction to sit on any Supreme Court in the nation. Smith also knew nationally known figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Estes Kevauver, and presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Through his civil rights work, he met A. P. Tureaud, Roy Wilkins, and Benjamin Hooks, and he worked closely with Vernon Jordan. Looking Beyond Race provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of America's largest corporation, General Motors, at a time when the company expanded its overseas market and faced an unprecedented flood of consumer lawsuits. Smith was an early advocate of the increasedcooperation between business and government that was so necessary for businesses negotiating the complexities of a global economy. In 1983 he retired as general counsel for the corporation, having been the company's first black officer. This memoir, which Smith dictated during the three years before his death in 1994, is a compelling tale that ends with the inspirational story of Smith's reconciliation with his white relatives who still live in the South. In this highly readable memoir, Looking Beyond Race provides a moving tale that will appeal to readers interested in African American history, politics, labor relations, business and Michigan history.
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