Let Freedom Ring: A Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement

This book traces the story of the civil rights movement through the written and spoken words of those who participated in it. It includes both classic texts, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s I Have a Dream speech and his Letter from Birmingham Jail , and lesser-known works, such as Robert Moses’ Letter from a Mississippi Jail Cell and James Lawson’s address to SNCC’s 1960 founding meeting. Drawing on research by recent scholars, the volume emphasizes the role that ordinary people played in the struggle for freedom and equality and also displays the breadth of the civil rights movement. It contains documents written by members of all the well-known civil rights organizations: SCLC, NAACP, SNCC, CORE, and the Black Panther Party. It includes pieces written by independent and relatively unknown figures, such as Jo Ann Gibson Robinson and Sheyann Webb. In addition, it includes documents demonstrating the ferocity of white resistance to black equality, such as George Wallace’s 1963 Inaugural Address . The book aims to fill a void, providing a balanced single-volume reader on the civil rights movement. It may be valuable to all those interested in Afro-American history, race relations, the 1960s, and recent American history.