What do you think?
Rate this book
Great Figures of the Civil Rights Movement
Malcolm X. Marcus Garvey. Charles Hamilton Houston. Diane Nash. For every well-known figure of the Civil Rights Movement, there are dozens of lesser-known, yet no less significant, activists who helped advance America’s social views and helped shape race relations in this country. Most listeners have only skimmed the surface of these deeply complex, influential, and world-changing figures. Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University delves into their stories, presenting an intimate study of the men and women who led half a century of social change.
Listeners will hear the histories behind well-known names, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and gain surprising insight and deep context about the activists’ contributions. Dr. Jeffries also introduces figures whose names may be less familiar, but who also played vital roles in Civil Rights, such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stokely Carmichael.
Each biography unfolds like a piece of riveting fiction, as Dr. Jeffries recounts the challenges and successes of the individuals - and the tremendous risks they took - while explaining how their choices transformed the way we now think about race and justice. Most importantly, listeners will discover how actions that may have seemed small or even futile at the time gradually rippled into waves of social change that impacted decades to come.
Listeners will hear the histories behind well-known names, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and gain surprising insight and deep context about the activists’ contributions. Dr. Jeffries also introduces figures whose names may be less familiar, but who also played vital roles in Civil Rights, such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stokely Carmichael.
Each biography unfolds like a piece of riveting fiction, as Dr. Jeffries recounts the challenges and successes of the individuals - and the tremendous risks they took - while explaining how their choices transformed the way we now think about race and justice. Most importantly, listeners will discover how actions that may have seemed small or even futile at the time gradually rippled into waves of social change that impacted decades to come.
Audible Audio
Published February 18, 2020
3 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 23, 2022
Synopsis (via Amazon):
Malcolm X. Marcus Garvey. Charles Hamilton Houston. Diane Nash. For every well-known figure of the Civil Rights Movement, there are dozens of lesser-known, yet no less significant, activists who helped advance America’s social views and helped shape race relations in this country. Most listeners have only skimmed the surface of these deeply complex, influential, and world-changing figures. Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University delves into their stories, presenting an intimate study of the men and women who led half a century of social change.
Listeners will hear the histories behind well-known names, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and gain surprising insight and deep context about the activists’ contributions. Dr. Jeffries also introduces figures whose names may be less familiar, but who also played vital roles in Civil Rights, such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stokely Carmichael.
Each biography unfolds like a piece of riveting fiction, as Dr. Jeffries recounts the challenges and successes of the individuals - and the tremendous risks they took - while explaining how their choices transformed the way we now think about race and justice. Most importantly, listeners will discover how actions that may have seemed small or even futile at the time gradually rippled into waves of social change that impacted decades to come.
Malcolm X. Marcus Garvey. Charles Hamilton Houston. Diane Nash. For every well-known figure of the Civil Rights Movement, there are dozens of lesser-known, yet no less significant, activists who helped advance America’s social views and helped shape race relations in this country. Most listeners have only skimmed the surface of these deeply complex, influential, and world-changing figures. Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University delves into their stories, presenting an intimate study of the men and women who led half a century of social change.
Listeners will hear the histories behind well-known names, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and gain surprising insight and deep context about the activists’ contributions. Dr. Jeffries also introduces figures whose names may be less familiar, but who also played vital roles in Civil Rights, such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stokely Carmichael.
Each biography unfolds like a piece of riveting fiction, as Dr. Jeffries recounts the challenges and successes of the individuals - and the tremendous risks they took - while explaining how their choices transformed the way we now think about race and justice. Most importantly, listeners will discover how actions that may have seemed small or even futile at the time gradually rippled into waves of social change that impacted decades to come.
December 9, 2021
More of a history than a series of biographies, the Great Figures are woven, with many others, into an engrossing and informative story of the Civil Rights Movement.
August 3, 2020
I learned a lot from this series of lectures, and I feel like I can take the knowledge that I have gained back to my own classroom. Even the figures that I was already acquainted with gained a fullness of character that I didn't realize before. I was most impressed with the work of SNCC and Ella Baker. After the section on Baker, she just kept popping up in other segments for the rest of the series. The same is true of SNCC. They were right in the middle of everything. This was well worth the listen.
July 28, 2020
Thank you audible stories for allowing us to stream for free during the pandemic.
This provides a rather broad historic account of some of the large figures in the movement for equal rights for all races. The one thing that struck me was how hard fought it was to never make it to where they really wanted to get to. Hopefully we will see true change in our society to make everyone equal so that not one group or race has power or authority over any other gender, group, sex, etc.
This provides a rather broad historic account of some of the large figures in the movement for equal rights for all races. The one thing that struck me was how hard fought it was to never make it to where they really wanted to get to. Hopefully we will see true change in our society to make everyone equal so that not one group or race has power or authority over any other gender, group, sex, etc.
August 25, 2025
Very academic and balanced. I really appreciated it. The professor left politics out of it when it could have been easy to mention just in passing. It was only when there was no way to avoid it that the professor mentioned the political party of the person in question.
This discussion of avoiding mention of political affiliation is defensible, but it leaves unsaid something very important... most ex-slaves were Republicans and most bigots in power were Democrats. The number of Republican African-Americans eventually changed to favor the Democrats, but for a very long time, the worst racists in power were Democrats. You have to know who-was-who in order to realize this. To the credit of the Democrats they eventually, and publicly purged the Democrat Party of the worst of the racists, but I didn't expect that purge to be perfect. (I'm looking at you, Senator Robert Byrd.) Without a power base, many of those purged Democrats became "Dixiecrats", but eventually some of them switched to the Republican Party.
I forgive the professor for not mentioning this important fact. This is a short audio course. He couldn't be expected to provide full context. I thought he did a marvelous job in the short time he had, but I hope in a larger work, the professor would provide more context.
I was also glad to learn more about Malcolm X. I've been meaning to read a biography about him.
I'd be glad to listen to this audio course again.
This discussion of avoiding mention of political affiliation is defensible, but it leaves unsaid something very important... most ex-slaves were Republicans and most bigots in power were Democrats. The number of Republican African-Americans eventually changed to favor the Democrats, but for a very long time, the worst racists in power were Democrats. You have to know who-was-who in order to realize this. To the credit of the Democrats they eventually, and publicly purged the Democrat Party of the worst of the racists, but I didn't expect that purge to be perfect. (I'm looking at you, Senator Robert Byrd.) Without a power base, many of those purged Democrats became "Dixiecrats", but eventually some of them switched to the Republican Party.
I forgive the professor for not mentioning this important fact. This is a short audio course. He couldn't be expected to provide full context. I thought he did a marvelous job in the short time he had, but I hope in a larger work, the professor would provide more context.
I was also glad to learn more about Malcolm X. I've been meaning to read a biography about him.
I'd be glad to listen to this audio course again.
November 28, 2021
I am not going to write a full review of this one. This was a free audiobook from Audible. I am a fan of Civil Rights history so I was familiar at least in part with all of the people included here, but I think this is a good introduction to Civil Rights history. I skipped the chapters on MLK, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Stokeley Carmichael because I have read full biographies, at least one each, on those three. But while those three were included, mostly the focus of this lecture series is on figures that are less well known, but essential to the Civil Rights Era movement.
While each lecture is really about an individual, the helpful context to those individuals allows for a good overview of the movement as a whole. The Civil Rights movement is too big and too important for anything to be the only book that you read/listen to. But this is a good introduction if your background of the Civil Rights movement is primarily Brown vs Board, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus boycott, the I have a dream speech, and King's assassination.
While each lecture is really about an individual, the helpful context to those individuals allows for a good overview of the movement as a whole. The Civil Rights movement is too big and too important for anything to be the only book that you read/listen to. But this is a good introduction if your background of the Civil Rights movement is primarily Brown vs Board, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus boycott, the I have a dream speech, and King's assassination.
May 7, 2022
Great Figures of the Civil Rights Movement by Hasan Kwame Jeffries is a passionate, epistle of reverence for ten figures in the civil rights movement. It is also an introduction of the biographies of leaders in the civil rights movements. It is running off of the post-rehabilitation of groups like the Black Panthers, so a great deal of emphasis is made to show figures associated with it as heroic and demanding necessary things on the road to black empowerment. The course comes across as the type of audiobook you'd want to give to a civically activist-minded youth. As far as that goes, this is something that quite a lot of people will be enthralled by. The only real issue is that this isn't a course. No weighing of the evidence, nor even much of an indication that there's something that's being drawn from.
82/100
82/100
August 2, 2021
This was fine.
I sense a kind of expectation to sing the praises of this series of lectures because of its subject matter, and I do appreciate the work put in, and I do like that it mixes familiar faces with overlooked heroes. I learned a fair bit about a number of difficult historical truths, about the awful things people went through.
But I also found the lectures bleeding into each other FOR ME. I don't know why, but the longer I listened, the less I became invested, and I think that's a bit too bad. It isn't the lecturer's fault I think, just my own issue.
I sense a kind of expectation to sing the praises of this series of lectures because of its subject matter, and I do appreciate the work put in, and I do like that it mixes familiar faces with overlooked heroes. I learned a fair bit about a number of difficult historical truths, about the awful things people went through.
But I also found the lectures bleeding into each other FOR ME. I don't know why, but the longer I listened, the less I became invested, and I think that's a bit too bad. It isn't the lecturer's fault I think, just my own issue.
January 28, 2023
I enjoyed this one. I knew a lot about many of these figures already since I’ve been doing a deep dive into this time period and have read biographies of many of the individuals within this book.
However, I also learned about some new figures as well.
The presenter gets major props from me for including an equal amount of women and men to cover. It’s a great primer for those looking to know more about the civil rights and people within it. It’s not a deep dive but a great primer.
I enjoyed it and the connections the presenter made.
However, I also learned about some new figures as well.
The presenter gets major props from me for including an equal amount of women and men to cover. It’s a great primer for those looking to know more about the civil rights and people within it. It’s not a deep dive but a great primer.
I enjoyed it and the connections the presenter made.
November 9, 2022
Fascinating stories about 5 men and 5 women who changed history.
The Freedom Riders were so badass. It was interesting to learn how Rosa Parks's parents were activists.
MLK had to keep capturing the press's attention by explicitly going to places with more violent white mayors, to get the photos of police brutality.
I got goosebumps many times listening to the bravery of these heroes.
The Freedom Riders were so badass. It was interesting to learn how Rosa Parks's parents were activists.
MLK had to keep capturing the press's attention by explicitly going to places with more violent white mayors, to get the photos of police brutality.
I got goosebumps many times listening to the bravery of these heroes.
January 22, 2023
Important information on the civil rights movement. Despite being a short book, it goes into more depth on the people involved than I believe is usually covered in classrooms, as well as making clear how extraordinary courage was required for extraordinarily trying times. This is the sort of information Texas laws try to ban.
September 15, 2021
Loved the information and learning more about well-known Civil Rights activists as well as being introduced to some of those who aren’t known as well. The timeline was a bit jumpy in a few places making it a little harder to follow, but had great content.
August 27, 2020
A useful and accessible overview on the struggles on the American black community in the 20th century.
July 15, 2021
Great lectures of famous and not so famous leaders of the civil rights movement. Particularly liked the portraits of Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stokely Carmichael.
October 20, 2021
Informative here I thought that Rosa parks was just a normal hard working woman but no she was a violent radical from youth intent on making constant trouble
2bcont
2bcont
November 13, 2022
An excellent summary of great people who have combated racism over the years
March 25, 2023
Informative and provides me with more information to teach to my Year 10s.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews