Jack Drake

Highly readable, fast-moving, first-person narrative of the early Civil Rights movement in Alabama. The author, who is white, is now a respected civil rights lawyer and the reader accompanies him through his moral development from a white working class Jefferson County boy where the n-word was a regular and frequent part of conversation (as were the underlying attitudes) to a Black Belt Civil Rights organizer and legal advisor during transformative moments of the movement, to his major show more contribution to the legal rights of mental health patients in the U.S. in Wyatt vs. Stickney. Drake is especially good at describing the ambiguities and complexities of white working class racism, and giving us behind-the-scenes glimpses of Civil Rights organizers such as Hosea Williams, as well as white politicians on both sides. Highly recommended both as an introduction to the movement in Alabama and for those very familiar with its history. show less