The Movement Made Us
A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride
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4.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A STEPHEN CURRY'S BOOK CLUB PICK
SOUTHERN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS ALLIANCE BESTSELLER
“A story of triumph and resilience centered around those who dedicated their lives to the Civil Rights movement. It reminds us that, in order to truly appreciate how far we’ve come—and how far we still have to go—we must acknowledge the past and pay homage to those who laid the foundation. It reminds us that everyday people can be heroes if they stand up for what’s right. It reminds us that we’re not alone in our experiences, and that if we work together, we can make impactful change.”—Stephen Curry
“The Movement Made Us takes literature to a momentous Southern Black space to which I honestly never thought a book could take us. This is literally the Movement that made us and both Davids love us whole here with a creation that is as ingenious as it is soulfully sincere. Stunning.”—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy
A dynamic family exchange that pivots between the voices of a father and son, The Movement Made Us is a unique work of oral history and memoir, chronicling the extraordinary story of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and its living legacy embodied in Black Lives Matter. David Dennis Sr, a core architect of the movement, speaks out for the first time, swapping recollections both harrowing and joyful with David Jr, a journalist working on the front lines of change today.
Taken together, their stories paint a critical portrait of America, casting one nation’s image through the lens of two individual Black men and their unique relationship. Playful and searching, anxious and restorative, fearless and driving, this intimate memoir features scenes from across David Sr’s life, as he becomes involved in the movement, tries to move beyond it, and ultimately returns to it to find final solace and new sense of self—revealing a survivor who travels eternally with a cabal of ghosts.
A crucial addition to Civil Rights history, The Movement Made Us is the story of a nation reckoning with change and the hopes, struggles, setbacks, and triumphs of modern Black life. This is it: the extant chronicle of why we live, why we move, and for what we are made.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The heavy toll exacted by the fight against Jim Crow is tallied in this gripping memoir. Dennis Jr. reconstructs the experiences—with details tweaked and dialogue "polished"—of his father, Dennis Sr., an official for the Congress of Racial Equality who organized lunch counter sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration drives in Louisiana and Mississippi from 1961 to 1964. Dennis Sr. confronted vicious white mobs and menacing sheriffs on backwoods roads; was beaten, jailed, and threatened with death; and suffered immense grief and guilt following the murders of his colleague Medgar Evers and Freedom Summer workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. Recollections brought to life in subtle and evocative prose—as Dennis Sr. departed for Mississippi, he recalls, "my mother was trying to hum church songs to herself, but I could hear her voice wavering underneath her harmonies"—paint him and his fellow activists as heroic but fallible, often terrified of the dangers inherent in their work and resentful of leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., when they seemed to be dodging those risks. As he hardened himself to the necessity of ordering volunteers to undertake perilous organizing missions, he felt that he was "losing humanity." This captures a remarkably intimate and vivid portrait of the human side of the civil rights movement.
Customer Reviews
Wow
Very eyes opening. Made me realize what our parents went through.