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Where We Stand: Voices Of Southern Dissent
This timely and provocative book contains essays from twelve leading Southern historians, activists, civil rights attorneys, law professors, and theologians. They discuss militarism, religion, the environment, voting rights, the Patriot Act, the economy, prisons and crime, and other subjects significant to the South and the Nation in the ongoing debate about the future of the United States. The writers come from, or have been active in the affairs of, each of the former Confederate states. The twelve share the beliefs that the current policies of our national administration sacrifice the interests of the poor and the people who work for a living to the interests of a privileged elite, that the power of money and the military must be tethered, that the natural environment must be sheltered, and that racial justice matters. A common sentiment is dismay at the deepening chasm that now divides America -- and specifically the South -- into hostile armies whose leaders are fast losing whatever motivation they ever had to pursue compromise and cooperation, and the common good. As former President Jimmy Carter writes in his Foreword, "The writers of this volume are all concerned about democracy and human rights, and they offer wide-ranging and incisive essays. Some are inspiring; some are disturbing. I am sure that readers will be provoked by them and will learn from them, as I have."
234 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2004
14 people want to read
About the author
Tony Dunbar
43 books100 followersTony Dunbar started writing at quite a young age. When he was 12, growing up in Atlanta, he told people that he was going to be a writer, but it took him until the age of 19 to publish his first book, Our Land Too, based on his civil rights experiences in the Mississippi delta. For entertainment, Tony turned not to television but to reading mysteries such as dozens of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories. Among his favorites are: Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, and Tony Hillerman, and John D. MacDonald, and Mickey Spillane.
He has lived in New Orleans for a long, long time, and in addition to writing mysteries and more serious fare he attended Tulane Law School and continues an active practice involving, he says, “money.” That practice took a hit in the Hurricane Katrina flooding, but the experience did produce a seventh Tubby Dubonnet mystery novel, Tubby Meets Katrina
The Tubby series so far comprises seven books: The Crime Czar, City of Beads, Crooked Man, Shelter from the Storm, Trick Question, Lucky Man, and Tubby Meets Katrina. The main character, Tony says, is the City of New Orleans itself, the food, the music, the menace, the party, the inhabitants. But Tubby Dubonnet is the actual protagonist, and he is, like the author, a New Orleans attorney. Unlike the author, however, he finds himself involved in serious crime and murder, and he also ears exceptionally well. He is “40 something,” the divorced father of three daughters, a collector of odd friends and clients, and he is constantly besieged by ethical dilemmas. But he is not fat; he is a former jock and simply big.
Tony’s writing spans quite a few categories and is as varied as his own experiences. He has written about people’s struggle for survival, growing out of his own work as a community organizer in Mississippi and Eastern Kentucky. He has written about young preachers and divinity students who were active in the Southern labor movement in the 1930s, arising from his own work with the Committee of Southern Churchmen and Amnesty International. He has written and edited political commentary, inspired by seeing politics in action with the Voter Education Project. And he has had the most fun with the mysteries, saying, “I think I can say everything I have to say about the world through the medium of Tubby Dubonnet.”
Hurricane Katrina and the floods, which caused the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans for months, blew Tony into an off-resume job serving meals in the parking lot of a Mississippi chemical plant to hundreds of hardhats imported to get the complex dried out and operating. It also gave Tony time to write Tubby Meets Katrina, which was the first published novel set in the storm. It is a little grimmer than most of the books in the series, describing as it does the chaos in the sparsely populated city immediately after the storm. “It was a useful way for me to vent my anger,” Tony says. Still, even in a deserted metropolis stripped of electric power. Tubby manages to find a good meal.
The Tubby Dubonnet series has been nominated for both the Anthony Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Award. While the last one was published in 2006, the author says he is now settling down to write again. But about what? “Birds and wild flowers,” he suggests. Or “maybe television evangelists.” Or, inevitably, about the wondrous and beautiful city of New Orleans.
He has lived in New Orleans for a long, long time, and in addition to writing mysteries and more serious fare he attended Tulane Law School and continues an active practice involving, he says, “money.” That practice took a hit in the Hurricane Katrina flooding, but the experience did produce a seventh Tubby Dubonnet mystery novel, Tubby Meets Katrina
The Tubby series so far comprises seven books: The Crime Czar, City of Beads, Crooked Man, Shelter from the Storm, Trick Question, Lucky Man, and Tubby Meets Katrina. The main character, Tony says, is the City of New Orleans itself, the food, the music, the menace, the party, the inhabitants. But Tubby Dubonnet is the actual protagonist, and he is, like the author, a New Orleans attorney. Unlike the author, however, he finds himself involved in serious crime and murder, and he also ears exceptionally well. He is “40 something,” the divorced father of three daughters, a collector of odd friends and clients, and he is constantly besieged by ethical dilemmas. But he is not fat; he is a former jock and simply big.
Tony’s writing spans quite a few categories and is as varied as his own experiences. He has written about people’s struggle for survival, growing out of his own work as a community organizer in Mississippi and Eastern Kentucky. He has written about young preachers and divinity students who were active in the Southern labor movement in the 1930s, arising from his own work with the Committee of Southern Churchmen and Amnesty International. He has written and edited political commentary, inspired by seeing politics in action with the Voter Education Project. And he has had the most fun with the mysteries, saying, “I think I can say everything I have to say about the world through the medium of Tubby Dubonnet.”
Hurricane Katrina and the floods, which caused the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans for months, blew Tony into an off-resume job serving meals in the parking lot of a Mississippi chemical plant to hundreds of hardhats imported to get the complex dried out and operating. It also gave Tony time to write Tubby Meets Katrina, which was the first published novel set in the storm. It is a little grimmer than most of the books in the series, describing as it does the chaos in the sparsely populated city immediately after the storm. “It was a useful way for me to vent my anger,” Tony says. Still, even in a deserted metropolis stripped of electric power. Tubby manages to find a good meal.
The Tubby Dubonnet series has been nominated for both the Anthony Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Award. While the last one was published in 2006, the author says he is now settling down to write again. But about what? “Birds and wild flowers,” he suggests. Or “maybe television evangelists.” Or, inevitably, about the wondrous and beautiful city of New Orleans.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 5, 2011
This is a very good collection of essays by progressives/dissidents from each and every state that comprised the old Confederacy. One of the authors is a personal friend, the others I am glad to have become acquainted with.
If you stay abreast of politics and political discussions, then some of the material will be a bit dated since this book was printed in the early days of the Iraq war - just before George W. Bush secured his 2nd term.
On the other hand, recent electoral triumphs by even more extreme right-wing conservatives have thrown those of on the left into a period of despair and hand-wringing that is pretty close to what we experienced over Bush's 8 years in office.
Many of the essayists did an excellent job of citing materials that bolstered their arguments. These authors discuss, among other topics: race relations, the environment, foreign policy, and southernization of American politics. There are many good passages and quotes to choose from.
Here is one example from John Egerton's "The Southernization of American Politics."
"This is where I stand as one Southerner, one American, one voice in opposition to the materialistic, militaristic, ideologically driven nation we seem hell-bent upon becoming."
If you stay abreast of politics and political discussions, then some of the material will be a bit dated since this book was printed in the early days of the Iraq war - just before George W. Bush secured his 2nd term.
On the other hand, recent electoral triumphs by even more extreme right-wing conservatives have thrown those of on the left into a period of despair and hand-wringing that is pretty close to what we experienced over Bush's 8 years in office.
Many of the essayists did an excellent job of citing materials that bolstered their arguments. These authors discuss, among other topics: race relations, the environment, foreign policy, and southernization of American politics. There are many good passages and quotes to choose from.
Here is one example from John Egerton's "The Southernization of American Politics."
"This is where I stand as one Southerner, one American, one voice in opposition to the materialistic, militaristic, ideologically driven nation we seem hell-bent upon becoming."
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February 3, 2013Rec from Thomas
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews