Black in Selma: The Uncommon Life of J.L. Chestnut Jr. (Fire Ant Books) by J L Chestnut - 9780817354619 - Compare Prices on New & Used Textbooks, Cheap Textbooks

		Black in Selma: The Uncommon Life of J.L. Chestnut Jr. (Fire Ant Books) by J L Chestnut, Julia Cass (Editor) ISBN-10: 9780817354619 ISBN-10: 0-8173-5461-1 ISBN-13: 9780817354619 ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5461-9 Paperback 2007-04-15 Fire Ant Books Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description “The autobiography of J. L. Chestnut is the story of Selma’s first black lawyer and prodigal son, but it is also part of the history of the race, sweeping biblically from enslavement by segregation to freedom to the ambitious aftermath of redemption.” —New York Times Book Review “Unfolds with the richness that one expects in a nove. . . .Less about the famous civil rights figureheads like Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King Jr., and Stokely Carmichael (though the author has his say about all of them) than the grass-roots folks who lived in Selma before the era of freedom riders, and remained there, toiling for social change, after the national leaders and media left. [This book] brims over with the social texture and political life of a Southern town raised to the level of a national symbol.” —Los Angeles Times “A valuable addition to the literature on civil rights. . . .It illuminates the personal isolation and frustration that make activism a high-risk endeavor.” —Journal of American History
Amazon.com Review The infamous 1965 "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., put that sleepy segregated town into the national spotlight. An important, though lesser-known, figure in those events was J.L. Chestnut--a fiery, hometown, Howard University-trained lawyer who through intelligence, force of will, and (in many cases) luck managed to change the town's laws and attitudes. Black in Selma, his unpretentious autobiography cowritten by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Julia Cass, recalls Chestnut's lifelong battles with the brutal segregation enforced by whites, as well as underachievement, classism, miseducation, and Afro-pessimism among local blacks. Throughout the book, Chestnut reveals in ribald and revolutionary tones the complexities and contradictions of simultaneously working with the law and outside it, including a riveting moment alongside future congressman John Lewis as they stood eyeball-to-eyeball with a local sheriff who blocked their enteric into a court building. His encounters with activist organizations such as the NAACP, SCLC, and SNCC further illuminate the philosophical intersections and collisions between various factions of the civil rights movement. Overall, J.L. Chestnut's story is about how a people accustomed to injustice grew to fight for freedom with their lives. "After centuries of ducking and dodging," he writes, "black people have come out of the closet--and they liked the air." --Eugene Holley Jr.
Reviews

Extraordinary Reading!! Black in Selma is an extraordinary book and gives the reader a superb mental depiction of Selma and times of the 1940s to present day. I read it from cover to cover in one day; I simply couldn't put it down. The racism that African-Americans endured is incredible!
A very very good story A wonderful book about Mr. Chestnut growing up in Selma. Some of the stories made me laugh so hard tears came to my eyes. But life for blacks in the south was hell. You will remember this one.
Great lessons for activists Great information about political strategy behind the civil rights movement and historical details that you won't read anywhere else. As an activist and organizer, I learned a lot from this book. The book shows the sheer guts it took to do these things when the outcome of the civil rights movement was not at all certain. I also appreciated the way the book remembered important and courageous people, some of whom risked their lives, and who might otherwise be lost to history. I hope Mr. Chestnut writes another book.
I love this biography. Fascinating, inspiring & hilarious. I love this biography. J.L. Chestnut, Jr. is a fascinating human being, and this book is filled with amazing and important history as well as hilarious stories from his life. A friend got me to read it one day when I was feeling down. He just asked me to read the first chapter (which is HILARIOUS), and I ended up reading the whole thing in two days -- I couldn't put it down. Throughout it, I was thoroughly inspired. A must read.
Uncommon, indeed Perhaps the most uncommon thing about Mr. Chestnut, the first African-American lawyer in Selma, is that he doesn't see himself as that extraordinary. This book, which was as much about the man as it was about the civil rights movement, was a quick read that I often wished would last a lot longer. I really enjoyed both the front-line perspective on a movement I only read about in history books, and as a law student, the legal angle was also fascinating.