Freedom Summer (Carter G Woodson Institute Series in Black Studies)

Rating:
Summary: The Civil Rights Movement from a worker's point of view
Review: _Freedom Summer_ is a richly detailed account of a young white woman who participated in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's summer project in Mississippi in 1964. The text covers one incredibly intense summer from the basic training session in June to the Democratic Convention in August. I will assign this text in my Civil Rights Autobiography course next semester because, aside from being a clearly-written account of a chaotic time, it will answer some of the questions I know my students will have, such as: what was it like to be a Civil Rights worker? what was it like to be arrested and thrown in a Mississippi jail? what were the day to day activities of people working in the Movement? how were the workers received by the black and white communities? or how do you decide go enter Mississippi after you've just learned that three summer project workers have disappeared and are presumed dead?