Black in Selma: The Uncommon Life of J.L. Chestnut, Jr. - Hardcover

Chestnut, J. L.; Cass, Julia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374114048 ISBN 13: 9780374114046

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1990

Synopsis

The only black attorney in Selma, Alabama, during 1965 recounts his participation in the civil rights movement and his fight since the 1960s against segregation and prejudice

About this title

Review:

The infamous 1965 "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., put that sleepy segregated town into the national spotlight. An important, though lesser-known, figure in those events was J.L. Chestnut--a fiery, hometown, Howard University-trained lawyer who through intelligence, force of will, and (in many cases) luck managed to change the town's laws and attitudes. Black in Selma, his unpretentious autobiography cowritten by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Julia Cass, recalls Chestnut's lifelong battles with the brutal segregation enforced by whites, as well as underachievement, classism, miseducation, and Afro-pessimism among local blacks. Throughout the book, Chestnut reveals in ribald and revolutionary tones the complexities and contradictions of simultaneously working with the law and outside it, including a riveting moment alongside future congressman John Lewis as they stood eyeball-to-eyeball with a local sheriff who blocked their enteric into a court building. His encounters with activist organizations such as the NAACP, SCLC, and SNCC further illuminate the philosophical intersections and collisions between various factions of the civil rights movement. Overall, J.L. Chestnut's story is about how a people accustomed to injustice grew to fight for freedom with their lives. "After centuries of ducking and dodging," he writes, "black people have come out of the closet--and they liked the air." --Eugene Holley Jr.

About the Author:

J. L. Chestnut Jr. is a civil rights attorney, columnist, and radio talk show host in Selma. He founded Chestnut, Sanders and Sanders, the largest black law firm in Alabama.Julia Cass is a freelance writer and journalism trainer who started her career in 1978 atThe Philadelphia Inquirer. She is a 2002 recipient of a Knight International Journalism fellowship.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0374114048
• ISBN 13: 9780374114046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 431