The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights

by Thomas C. Holt

The civil rights movement was among the most important historical developments of the twentieth century and one of the most remarkable mass movements in American history. Not only did it decisively change the legal and political status of African Americans, but it prefigured as well the moral premises and methods of struggle for other historically oppressed groups seeking equal standing in American society. And, yet, despite a vague, sometimes begrudging recognition of its immense import, more often than not the movement has been misrepresented and misunderstood. For the general public, a singular moment, frozen in time at the Lincoln Memorial, sums up much of what Americans know about that remarkable decade of struggle.

In The Movement, Thomas C. Holt provides an informed and nuanced understanding of the origins, character, and objectives of the mid-twentieth-century freedom struggle, privileging the aspirations and initiatives of the ordinary, grassroots people who made it. Holt conveys a sense of these developments as a social movement, one that shaped its participants even as they shaped it. He emphasizes the conditions of possibility that enabled the heroic initiatives of the common folk over those of their more celebrated leaders. This groundbreaking book reinserts the critical concept of "movement" back into our image and understanding of the civil rights movement.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Race, American History, African American

164 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2021

About the author

Professor Thomas Cleveland Holt taught at Howard University, Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan.

Reviews

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably impossible to boil the entire Long Civil Rights Movement into this thin a volume. Holt knows the story and dips in well enough but it's hard to imagine the audience for whom this is the best option--too telegraphic for beginners,, nothing much knew for those who know the literature.

[Pren Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is dry and information dense. It’s written like a textbook. I had to take it in small batches cause I kept spacing out. That being said, it’s only about 100 pages and it’s a comprehensive timeline of the civil rights movement from the 40s-60s. It’s did go Into a little depth about how and why certain tactics were successful or less than successful and how the region of the country that each movement was made in affected the over all success. It’s worth a read to fill in your gaps in knowledge and to kind of put into time and place the histories you already know. Also it illustrates how little things have changed In the subsequent 50 years. Gross.

[Shalom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mix -- a brief, well-written overview of a *lot* of history, but not just the standard events many of us could recite by heart. Simultaneously objective, yet obviously heartfelt and occasionally critical. Well worth the read, no matter how much you think you know.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

A short look at the civil rights movement. Easy to read and is as informative as it can be with how short it is. Not what I was really expecting from the book based on the first few pages, but nonetheless it was comprehensive and informative.

[Usamah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a succinct introduction to the civil rights movement for newcomers on the subject. It's very focused on civil rights organizations, so a limited in scope.

[Christina Basandella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for school, just not my type of book

[Emma Sotomayor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit dry, but a good introduction to the early civil rights movement.