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Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me
John Stokes has waited more than 50 years to give his eyewitness account of "The Manhattan Project." This was the name he and a group of fellow students gave their strike at R.R. Moton High School that helped to end separate schooling for blacks and whites, not only in his home state of Virginia, but throughout America. Told in Stokes’ own words, the story vividl...more
Hardcover, 128 pages
Published
December 26th 2007
by National Geographic Children's Books
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I like the book for its subject matter and for the personal connection and touches of a historical event. However, most of the book reads flat, at times repetitive, often heavy-handed, and dragged out, especially toward the end. The heavy usage of certain terms, such as "white power structure," make this less, rather than more, affective. This is a book written by someone with strong emotional ties to a significant event in the U.S. history but without a strong editorial hand to hel...more
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Just had my school order multiple copies of this book to use with my 4th graders in our study of VA history. Powerful little book with a great message and story that needs to heard.
Carrie Simmons loaned this book to me. it's good and a quick read. i think the reading level is okay for middle school students.
Very moving story! It let's students know they can make a difference!
Use with Racial Prejudice Unit
This first person account of how a small group of high school students changed america is a powerful is a powerful story that has captivated me. I say this because I am in the process of writing a book that covers the entire 13 year struggle not just the, initiating event, strike.
Any perspectives or leads or research that my fellow goodreads are aware of would be appricated. If you were involved or have some perspective and would like to be interviewed contact me here.
Thanks
John
Any perspectives or leads or research that my fellow goodreads are aware of would be appricated. If you were involved or have some perspective and would like to be interviewed contact me here.
Thanks
John
Prince Edward county (Va.) public schools were closed for 5 years because the county did not want to segregate. 5 years! (1959 - 1964) What a loss. Mr. Stokes describes growing up in the Jim Crow south as an African-American and the separate-but-equal joke of the schools he attended. His role in the student strike that led the county to integrate also led him to be a plaintiff in the Brown vs. Board of Ed. case. A short non-fiction read (125 pgs.).
While the prose is somewhat disjointed as times, this book gives a thoughtful and powerful presentation of life in Virigina for John Stokes, an African American who was a boy directly affected by school segregation and what he, his family and his classmates did about it. His afterward briefly touches on the "cost" of protest, even among friends and fellow sufferers.
This is an important and inspiring story but told unfortunately in a dry tone that never really grabbed my attention. It's too bad as Stokes, his fellow students and the African American community of Prince Edward County deserve to have their story known across this country.
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