How Long? How Long?: African-American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights: African American Women and the Struggle for Civil Rights

by Belinda Robnett

A compelling and readable narrative history, How Long? How Long? presents both a rethinking of social movement theory and a controversial that chroniclers have egregiously neglected the most important leaders of the Civil Rights movement, African-American women, in favor of higher-profile African-American men and white women. Author Belinda Robnett argues that the diversity of experiences of the African-American women organizers has been underemphasized in favor of monolithic treatments of their femaleness and blackness.

Drawing heavily on interviews with actual participants in the American Civil Rights movement, this work retells the movement as seen through the eyes and spoken through the voices of African-American women participants. It is the first book to provide an analysis of race, class, gender, and culture as substructures that shaped the organization and outcome of the movement. Robnett examines the differences among women participants in the movement and offers the first cohesive analysis of the gendered relations and interactions among its black activists, thus demonstrating that femaleness and blackness cannot be viewed as sufficient signifiers for movement experience and individual identity. Finally, this book makes a significant contribution to social movement theory by providing a crucial understanding of the continuity and complexity of social movements, clarifying the need for different layers of leadership that come to satisfy different movement needs.

An engaging narrative history as well as a major contribution to social movement and feminist theory, How Long? How Long? will appeal to students and scholars of social activism, women's studies, American history, and African-American studies, and to general readers interested in the perennially fascinating story of the American Civil Rights movement.

Genres: History, Feminism, Race, School, Nonfiction, Grad School, Read For School

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute must!

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robnett complicates the distinction between organizing and leadership in the Civil Rights Movement by exploring a "mobilizing" tradition shaped primarily by African American women who served as "bridge leaders" between community and the political movement. There's a bit more sociological language than I would have liked--probably because Robnett needed to impress her tenure committee--but the stories of Ella Baker, Septima Clark, and Diane Nash among others make this a valuable read.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the civil rights movement written by a sociologist, "How Long, How Long" gives a fascinating perspective on the women of the CRM, who often found themselves torn between the desire for racial equality, and the desire for gender equality--two goals that did not always converge.

[Sandra Oldfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fascinated by introduction and Chapter 1--the parts that the author thought I may want to breeze through. A great framework was laid out and it is much appreciated

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I will update this more shortly.) "...What might have been more empowering would have been a call not only for a Million Man March but also a simultaneous Million Woman March, followed by a procession through the streets to a central location where two million African-American men and women joined hands and sang our Black national anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing." Together and in harmony, our voices should be heard singing James Weldon Johnson's first two stanzas..."

[Chenice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book with some excellent arguments which are well backed up.

I used this book for my A2 Historical Inquiry regarding how significant women were in helping the Civil Rights Movement. This book talks in depth about different factors and many women who are not mentioned generally in regards to Civil Rights.

I definitely recommend.