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We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth's Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired
Once in a great while, a photograph captures the essence of an era: Three people--one black and two white--demonstrate for equality at a lunch counter while a horde of cigarette-smoking hotshots pour catsup, sugar, and other condiments on the protesters' heads and down their backs. The image strikes a chord for all who lived through those turbulent times of a changing America.
The photograph, which plays a central role in the book's perspectives from frontline participants, caught a moment when the raw virulence of racism crashed against the defiance of visionaries. It now shows up regularly in books, magazines, videos, and museums that endeavor to explain America's largely nonviolent civil rights battles of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Yet for all of the photograph's celebrated qualities, the people in it and the events they inspired have only been sketched in civil rights histories. It is not well known, for instance, that it was this event that sparked to life the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963. Sadly, this same sit-in and the protest events it inspired led to the assassination of Medgar Evers, who was leading the charge in Jackson for the NAACP. We Shall Not Be Moved puts the Jackson Woolworth's sit-in into historical context. Part multifaceted biography, part well-researched history, this gripping narrative explores the hearts and minds of those participating in this harrowing sit-in experience. It was a demonstration without precedent in Mississippi--one that set the stage for much that would follow in the changing dynamics of the state's racial politics, particularly in its capital city.- GenresNonfictionHistory
384 pages, Hardcover
First published February 15, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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November 15, 2015Both an inspirational and a cautionary tale about idealists in action: M.J. O’Brien takes an iconic Civil Rights era photograph and uses it as scaffolding for a nuanced history of the Jackson Movement. The story O’Brien tells about that summer in ’63 is messy, contradictory, passionate and, in the end, indeterminate. There are no clear winners or losers, no saints or sinners, and no outward change in the apartheid world of Mississippi, just a lot of people struggling through the molasses of social change. Yet that summer marks a tipping point from which the established order will never pull back.
Quotes from the three lunch counter protesters caught in the famous photo —
Anne Moody and Joan Trumpauer, remembering the August 28 March on Washington:
“Moody and Trumpauer had similar reactions to Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech that day. Both felt he was talking about pie in the sky. ‘Certainly at this point, looking back on it and reading the speech and hearing it again, I can see the majesty of it,’ Trumpauer later admitted. ‘But our reaction as young radicals was, “He’s in his own dream world.”’ Moody’s recollection was even more pointed: ‘I sat on the grass and listened to the speakers, to discover we had “dreamers” instead of leaders …. Martin Luther King went on and on talking about his dream …. In Canton [where the KKK terrorized Civil Rights’ workers] we never had time to sleep, much less dream.’” loc. 5269
John Salter, on the personal aftermath of that summer:
“ … he would wake up every night in a sweat, smelling blood - an experience he continued to have, though with less frequency, for the rest of his life.” loc. 5148
Quotes from the three lunch counter protesters caught in the famous photo —
Anne Moody and Joan Trumpauer, remembering the August 28 March on Washington:
“Moody and Trumpauer had similar reactions to Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech that day. Both felt he was talking about pie in the sky. ‘Certainly at this point, looking back on it and reading the speech and hearing it again, I can see the majesty of it,’ Trumpauer later admitted. ‘But our reaction as young radicals was, “He’s in his own dream world.”’ Moody’s recollection was even more pointed: ‘I sat on the grass and listened to the speakers, to discover we had “dreamers” instead of leaders …. Martin Luther King went on and on talking about his dream …. In Canton [where the KKK terrorized Civil Rights’ workers] we never had time to sleep, much less dream.’” loc. 5269
John Salter, on the personal aftermath of that summer:
“ … he would wake up every night in a sweat, smelling blood - an experience he continued to have, though with less frequency, for the rest of his life.” loc. 5148
May 6, 2015
I am too young to have experienced much about the civil rights movement so knew very little about what was going on in the early 60's in the U.S. This book will give the reader a taste of what life was like for African-Americans in Mississippi 50+ years ago, and what people in the civil rights movement did and had to endure to move us forward.
The story is centered around a sit in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson, MS in late May 1963. The demonstrators - black and white - endured terrible abuse by a mob of young people fighting to keep segregation. Photos of this particular sit in were shown around the world to appalled people everywhere. Then, a few short weeks later, the NAACP lead organizer in Jackson, Medgar Evers, was assassinated by a white racist. I don't think it would be presumptuous to say that that ugly scene and Medgar Evers' death were big motivators behind the Civil Rights Act passage.
Chapter 6, describing the sit in, and Chapter 8, describing the murder of Medgar Evers were as riveting as you can get in a history book. Although the author is not a historian, he has a keen eye for detail and an accessible writing style (although sometimes the details can overwhelm the reader).
Highly recommended.
The story is centered around a sit in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson, MS in late May 1963. The demonstrators - black and white - endured terrible abuse by a mob of young people fighting to keep segregation. Photos of this particular sit in were shown around the world to appalled people everywhere. Then, a few short weeks later, the NAACP lead organizer in Jackson, Medgar Evers, was assassinated by a white racist. I don't think it would be presumptuous to say that that ugly scene and Medgar Evers' death were big motivators behind the Civil Rights Act passage.
Chapter 6, describing the sit in, and Chapter 8, describing the murder of Medgar Evers were as riveting as you can get in a history book. Although the author is not a historian, he has a keen eye for detail and an accessible writing style (although sometimes the details can overwhelm the reader).
Highly recommended.
May 5, 2023
An overlooked masterpiece. Unlike other authors that sum up years of activism in a single paragraph, O'Brien writes in great detail about every single activist meeting and why it mattered. He also provides intimate portraits of each person involved in the Jackson sit-in, refusing to demonize anyone, whether protester or vigilante. The epilogue is also one of the most moving things I've ever read. Essential reading for anyone serious about making change.
August 14, 2020
An important story originating from an important and startling photo. The hatred and violence experienced by those peaceful protestors was awful. Unfortunately, we haven’t made as much progress as a nation as I would hope for. We can and should continue to work for a positive change in civil rights.
April 5, 2013
O'Brien takes the reader back to the turbulent 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, where blacks are trying to claim their human rights from a power structure that refuses to acknowledge their full humanity. The man in the middle of the struggle in Medgar Evenrs, the NAACP field secretary who not only has to fight white racists but bureaucrats from his national headquarters who do not favor his direct action approach. Evers is torn between his loyalty to the organization and his desire to keep pressing for change despite mounting resistance. The scene at the center of the book is the lunch counter in the downtown Woolworth's store where a brave band of young people plan a sit-in demonstration. The date is 1963, three years after the historic sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, but Mississippi still stubbornly clings to segregation while other southern states have abandoned this racist practice.
O'Brien takes his inspiration from an iconic photo of the demonstration that shows three weary individuals seated at the counter while receiving abuse from a hostile mob that surrounds them. The author tracked down not only the surviving participants, but members of the crowd, police officers on the scene, the photographer who snapper the picture, and the unseen actors who organized the demonstration.
This is a remarkable book that captures the drama, passion, heroism, and tragedy of those days fifty years ago. While much has changed in Jackson and Mississippi, we must face up to the underlying racial divide that still is very much with us.
O'Brien takes his inspiration from an iconic photo of the demonstration that shows three weary individuals seated at the counter while receiving abuse from a hostile mob that surrounds them. The author tracked down not only the surviving participants, but members of the crowd, police officers on the scene, the photographer who snapper the picture, and the unseen actors who organized the demonstration.
This is a remarkable book that captures the drama, passion, heroism, and tragedy of those days fifty years ago. While much has changed in Jackson and Mississippi, we must face up to the underlying racial divide that still is very much with us.
August 13, 2017
I have been part of this book from its genesis, 20 years ago. Fill disclosure: its author is my husband, and I helped edit the book at various points. At bottom, though, no matter who wrote it, it is a book I deeply believe in. It is a story that needed to be told, especially given that it was the most violent of the counter sit-ins because the Supreme Court had just made such sit-ins legal--thus, instead of coming in an arresting the protestors right away, as had previously been the case, now the police stayed outside and let the violence go on for three hours.
I also never fail to weep at the story of the young man who took the photograph. Let's just say the experience changed his life forever.
I also never fail to weep at the story of the young man who took the photograph. Let's just say the experience changed his life forever.
July 19, 2025
It’s embarrassing how long I’ve owned this book. I got it through book club over a decade ago when Joan Trumpauer came and spoke at the library. This book is different than most history books I’ve read because it focuses on the movement and the people that created the iconic image of the sit-in at Jackson’s Woolworths. It is a reminder of the value of a moment, people’s commitment, and the politics that are constantly at play even amongst the groups on the same side. Overall, this is well researched and presented. I highly recommend.
December 5, 2018
What a terrific book especially for those that wonder whatever happened to the people they see in a historic photo.
August 7, 2020
Honest. Brutally honest, and I needed that.
October 9, 2013
O'Brien carefully examines the Jackson Movement of the Civil Rights era led by Medgar Evers and
John Salter, a young white Tougaloo College instructor. The movement's members consisted of Mississippi youth, both black and white, who used non-violent boycotts and protests to demand, as Evers explained, “removal of the unconstitutional, inhuman, unchristian, and anti-democratic restrictions” placed on black Mississippians.
O'Brien studies the people and activities of the movement, particularly the Woolworth luncheon counter sit-in which provided one of the most iconic photographs of the Civil Rights era. He explores how the movement was different from the more conservative approach of voter registration drives and legal actions advocated by the national NAACP office and older black Mississippians.
Participants believe that the movement was instrumental in mobilizing all black Mississippians. O'Brien makes the case that the movement played an important role in moving the nation towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Overall the book is interesting, though O'Brien gets a bit wrapped up in great detail at times; at those points I just skimmed through.
John Salter, a young white Tougaloo College instructor. The movement's members consisted of Mississippi youth, both black and white, who used non-violent boycotts and protests to demand, as Evers explained, “removal of the unconstitutional, inhuman, unchristian, and anti-democratic restrictions” placed on black Mississippians.
O'Brien studies the people and activities of the movement, particularly the Woolworth luncheon counter sit-in which provided one of the most iconic photographs of the Civil Rights era. He explores how the movement was different from the more conservative approach of voter registration drives and legal actions advocated by the national NAACP office and older black Mississippians.
Participants believe that the movement was instrumental in mobilizing all black Mississippians. O'Brien makes the case that the movement played an important role in moving the nation towards the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Overall the book is interesting, though O'Brien gets a bit wrapped up in great detail at times; at those points I just skimmed through.
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October 21, 2013September 1, 2014
See my review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
April 20, 2017
A great text that is also a great jumping point into youth involvement in the CRM
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews