Review: Because They Marched

 

This is a book I reviewed a few years back.  It seemed appropriate to revisit it at this time during Black History Month . . . 

Thanks to recent events, voting rights are a controversial topic much like they were in the 1960s.  What is that about history repeating itself?  To see the struggle as it unfolded, one should read Because They Marched: the People’s Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America.  This book has captured the voting rights struggle in history by matching Russell Freedman’s skilled writing with the powerful black and white photographs found throughout the book.  The main focus of this publication is the previous two years before President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.  However, the author is careful not to talk about this struggle in isolation.  Mr. Freedman easily gives the reader the information he/she needs in order to clearly understand the Civil Rights Movement and how Selma, Alabama was an important piece of the overall outcome during this time in history.  His short chapters and first-hand accounts of the clash between the black and white Americans in Selma, Alabama keeps this book from becoming another sterile, non-fiction account of an important time in history.  

The language is fluid, not clinical, and the reader can easily imagine that a grandfather or great-grandfather is telling this story.  Because They Marched: the People’s Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America can easily be compared to Freedom Riders: Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement (by Anne Bausum) or Martin’s Big Words: the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (by Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier).  In comparing these tales, the reader will recognize the same storytelling style of a nonfiction event.

This book is organized and written well, and seems to be a current topic of choice. Whether this is recreation reading or research for a class, this book will make the patron's experience with voting rights more stimulating. It is definitely recommended for any personal, school or public library.