Drawing from his challenging life experiences, John Horne Burns crafted a groundbreaking narrative in his debut novel, which offers an unvarnished portrayal of gay life within the military during World War II. His time in Africa and Italy influenced the story, making it a significant work in LGBTQ literature. Despite its initial success, selling half a million copies, Burns struggled to replicate this acclaim in his later works, marking a poignant moment in his literary career.
Billie Holiday's signature tune, 'Strange Fruit', with its graphic and heart-
wrenching portrayal of a lynching in the South, brought home the evils of
racism as well as being an inspiring mark of resistance. In 1939, its
performance sparked controversy (and sometimes violence) wherever Billie...
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The names Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan Massery may not be well known, but
the image of them from September 1957 surely is. This famous photograph
captures the full anguish of desegregation - in Little Rock and throughout the
South - and an epic moment in the civil rights movement. This book explores
how this haunting picture came to be taken.
No issue in America in the 1960s was more vital than civil rights, and no two public figures were more crucial in the drama of race relations in this era than Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Fifty years after they were both assassinated, noted journalist David Margolick explores the untold story of the complex and ever-evolving relationship between these two American icons. Assassinated only sixty-two days apart in 1968, King and Kennedy changed the United States forever, and their deaths profoundly altered the country's trajectory. As trailblazers in the civil rights movement, leaders in their respective communities, and political powerhouses with enormous personal appeal, no single pairing of white and black ever mattered more in American history. In The Promise and the Dream, Margolick examines their unique bond and the complicated mix of mutual assistance, impatience, wariness, awkwardness, antagonism and admiration that existed between the two, documented with firsthand interviews from close sources, oral histories, FBI files, and previously untapped, contemporaneous newspaper accounts. At a turning point in social history, MLK and RFK embarked on distinct but converging paths toward lasting change. Even when they weren't interacting directly, they monitored and learned from, one another. Yet the distance they maintained from one another reflected much broader tensions between the races in the United States, and their nearly simultaneous deaths embodied the nation's violent predilections and ongoing racial turmoil. Their joint story, a story each man took some pains to hide and which began to come into focus only with their murders, is not just gripping history but a window into contemporary America and the challenges we continue to face. Complemented by eighty-three revealing photographs by the foremost photojournalists of the period, The Promise and the Dream offers a compelling look at one of the most consequential but misunderstood relationships in our nation's history. "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."--Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967 "In this difficult day, in this difficult time ... It is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in."--Robert F. Kennedy, 1968 -- Publisher description
The heavyweight fights in New York in 1936 and 1938 between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling symbolized and galvanized the hopes, hatreds, and fears of a world moving toward total war. We see boxing genius Louis taking New York by storm in the 1930s, the savior of a sport in decline and a symbol of redemption for black America after the scandalous reign of Jack Johnson two decades earlier. Schmeling, we learn, was a kind of chameleon, a cultural icon in Weimar Germany who maintained his privileged status after the Nazi takeover. We see the extraordinary buildup to the 1938 rematch--the worsening international tensions seemingly raising the stakes, while radio allowed the whole world to listen. Margolick makes clear the divisions the two men came to represent as the Nazi threat became increasingly clear, and as America began to feel the effects of a nascent civil rights movement.--From publisher description
The book delves into the profound impact of "Strange Fruit," a song recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939 that became a pivotal anthem for the civil rights movement. It explores the revolutionary lyrics that addressed racial lynchings in the South and the song's origins in New York's Cafe Society. The narrative highlights the intertwined lives of Holiday and Abel Meeropol, the song's white Jewish writer, while tracing the broader implications of the song on artists and audiences across generations.
The narrative explores the pivotal roles of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in shaping civil rights during the tumultuous 1960s in America. It delves into their contributions and the impact of their leadership on race relations, highlighting the significance of their actions and ideologies in the ongoing struggle for equality. Through their stories, the book captures the essence of a transformative period in American history.
