The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle

by Clayborne Carson (Editor), David J. Garrow (Editor), Gerald Gill (Editor)

A record of the American civil rights movement. Included are speeches by Martin Luther King Jr, and his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail", an interview with Rosa Parks, selections from "Malcolm X Speaks"; Black Panther Bobby Seale's "Seize the Time", a piece by Herman Badillo on the infamous Attica prison uprising; addresses by Harold Washington, Jesse Jackson, Nelson Mandela and much more.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Politics, Reference, African American, Social Justice

784 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Clayborne Carson is professor of history at Stanford University, and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Since 1985 he has directed the Martin Luther King Papers Project, a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of civil rights speeches and documents. This book became a godsend during the writing of a recent (and very large) college paper of mine. I especially found the MLK speeches useful and moving, and I had to try very hard to only research, as I found myself reading through the book for hours.

Very good resource and fun to read.

[Ben Truong · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle is an anthology of a plethora of speeches, essays, various documents, and firsthand accounts collected and edited by the team of Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill, Vincent Harding, and Darlene Clark Hine. It is a collection of documents from firsthand accounts, which spans the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.

For the most part, I rather like most if not all of these contributions. The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle is an anthology that collected many documents from speeches, letters, personal essays or journal entries, interviews, and much more separated into fourteen sections, which presents a definitive collection about the American Civil Rights Movement.

Included are the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision in its entirety; speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr., and his famous "Letter from Birmingham City Jail"; an interview with Rosa Parks; selections from Malcolm X Speaks; Black Panther Bobby Seale's Seize the Time; Ralph Abernathy's controversial And the Walls Came Tumbling Down; a piece by Herman Badillo on the infamous Attica prison uprising; addresses by Harold Washington, Jesse Jackson, Nelson Mandel, and the list goes on.

Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions, but The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle may be the exception. It is a superb record of one of the greatest and most turbulent movements of this century and is essential for anyone interested in learning how far the American civil rights movements has come and how far it has to go.

All in all, The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle is perhaps the most comprehensive anthology of primary sources available, spanning the entire history of the American civil rights movement.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book collects primary documents on civil rights from the 1950s up to the very early 1990s. The editors have done a really good job of selecting relevant and interesting documents. I've used this for my classes and have found it to be a valuable resource. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in the civil rights movement.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting, in depth look at the Civil Rights movement with a lot of primary source documents. The only drawback is the way it is arranged. It could be more clearly laid out.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where have you gone, H. Rap Brown? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. This supremely important and wisely edited anthology surpasses the magnificent PBS documentary series of the same name in furnishing primary sources for America's most violent and triumphant years since the Civil War. The battle to end Jim Crow and redeem the promises of America had made to all its citizens since 1776 marked a water shed in the nation's history. Civil rights or another civil war? Chaos or community? The classics are here, of course, with a new punch and urgency. An excerpt from COMING OF AGE IN MISSISSIPPI by Anne Moody reminds us of what it's like to grow up an invisible Black female in a Jim Crow state, and all too visible in the eyes of the police. The difference between saying "yes" and "yes, sir" to a white man could get you killed, and disappearances of brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles (check the local swamp) was far too common. An interview with Rosa Parks shows that careful preparation is necessary to defy the law, making the act doubly courageous. Martin Luther King's sermon at the Montgomery, Alabama Baptist Church in defense of civil disobedience, "If we are wrong the Supreme Court is wrong, the Constitution is wrong, God is wrong", illustrates how he could make an audience moan to the mention of Plato. His "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is still the last word on why Christians not only have a right but a duty to take up politics to correct injustice. The wind that swept out of Alabama soon turned into a whirlwind as the civil rights movement entered a more militant stage. Malcolm X asks rhetorically, "why integrate into a burning house?" and Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, makes the case for armed self-defense. A month before he gave up his life in Memphis, King took questions from an unusual audience of rabbinical leaders, including his friend and ally Rabbi Abraham Heschel. The assembly wants to know if King despairs, whether there is hope for America, and what Jews can do in harmony with Blacks to secure freedom. The death of King in April of 1968 brought chaos, yes, and also planted the seeds of Black political empowerment. Speeches and press conferences by Andrew Young, Harold Washington and Maynard Jackson of Atlanta testify to the achievement of political power in a way King could scarcely imagine. EYES ON THE PRIZE is essential reading for consulting what America was, is and is still waiting to be.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely do we get a readable version of primary documents, especially such a compendium as this, charting one of the most important twoscore years of our country's history. The most distressing aspect of this book, for me, is that the events recounted, and the hopes dashed and raised by speaker after speaker, seemed all too contemporary, and not to have ended 30 years ago. I kept asking myself: why is 2020 so much like 1980, and 1960? Shame, America, shame. We, who have much, will be required to account for the much good we SHOULD have done with it. Sooner or later, justice is coming. Will you and I be on the right side of it?

[Tim Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of primary source materials covering the same. Intent as the 14 part Eyes on the Prize television series. It is helpfully organized into 14 chapters each corresponding with an episode.

[Maya Greally · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little too neo-lib for my tastes but a good general history and background of primary documents but goddamn she was thick

[nelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

shoutout to my fav history prof

[Jaclyn Ekhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically the Bible for the Civil Rights Movement.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good collection of civil rights era primary sources and articles. One of my professors, Gerald Gill, wrote a couple of the articles. He was a thoughtful historian who knew everything there was to know about American history during this period.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful documents of the civil rights and black power movement. Like most history, the voices of women, queer folks, and other oppressed identities are scarce in comparison to the perspectives of straight cismen.

[Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books talks about how Black people keep their eye on the prize

A very good telling of recent Black history

[Mary Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large amount of reading for one semester but through this book I learned many things that I didn't know about the civil rights movement.

[Arthur Kyriazis · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential historical & legal background.

also a classroom sourcebook.

for those in debate & speech, excellent source for quotations & value props.

[Ryan King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing reading about these stories and seeing/hearing about the same items taking place today.

[Jim McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book which through a series of documents brings to life the Civil Rights movement as no ordinary text book can. An engrossing and life affirming read.

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. Love. This. Book.