Throughout the world, the twentieth-century quest for equal rights is filled with stories of courage, strength, and perseverance. Now readers can celebrate these powerful moments in the recent past in America and the Diaspora. Vividly told vignettes celebrate the amazing drive for liberty. From the March on Washington and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the first Negro History Week, this book takes us through historic moments in North and South America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Read as history or for daily empowerment, here is memorable writing about unforgettable heroes, overlooked milestones, and triumphs of the human spirit over racism and oppression.
Celebrate the heroic individuals, dramatic turning points, and exultant moments of triumph that defined the struggle for Civil Rights in America and independence throughout the African Diaspora. Here are 365 stories that forged the Freedom Days. Some are poignant, some are powerful; all are illuminating, evocative, and inspiring. Discover the days that:
- Maya Angelou, actress, journalist, and Civil Rights activist, stuns the world with her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
- Actor and writer Ossie Davis delivers his moving eulogy of Malcolm X, proclaiming him "a Prince—our own Black shining Prince!—who did not hesitate to die, because he loved us so."
- Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, fire into a crowd of peaceful African protesters, killing 69 and wounding 180 others in what would become known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Five years later, on the same day, the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, begins.
- Confined to a narrow jail cell, Martin Luther King Jr. begins writing on some scraps of paper. His "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" will become known throughout the world as a classic of protest literature.
- Zora Neale Hurston emerges from seven intense weeks of work on a novel. The result is her masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
- After twenty-two amazing years in the Negro Leagues, legendary pitcher Satchel Paige is finally admitted into the major leagues. The Hall of Famer’s lifetime record: an astounding 2,600 games, 300 shutouts, and 55 no-hitters.
- Berry Gordy goes from featherweight boxer to heavyweight business champ with the start of the Motown Sound.
- One lone child, Elizabeth Eckford, braves an angry mob in the landmark confrontation over desegregation at Little Rock, Arkansas’s Central High.
Freedom Days offers daily affirmation of how acts of faith and daring can and do make a difference. Let these shining examples inspire and empower your future.