Thunder of Freedom

A veteran of the civil right movement recounts the events of Freedom Summer in Mississippi through oral histories, personal reflections and photos.

The world's eyes were on Mississippi during the summer of 1964, when civil rights activists launched an ambitious African American voter registration project and were met with violent resistance from white supremacists. Sue Sojourner and her husband arrived in Holmes County, Mississippi, in the wake of this historic time, known as Freedom Summer.

From September 1964 until her departure from the state in 1969, Sojourner collected an incredible number of documents, oral histories, and photographs chronicling the dramatic events she witnessed. In Thunder of Freedom, written with Cheryl Reitan, Sojourner presents a fascinating account of one of the civil rights movement's most active and broad-based community organizing operations in the South.

Sojourner shares her personal experiences as well as insights into race relations in the 1960s South, providing a unique look at the struggle for rights and equality in Mississippi. Illustrated with selections from Sojourner's acclaimed catalog of photographs, this profound book tells the powerful, often intimate stories of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.