Author Paula Young Shelton was just four
at the time of the Selma-to-Montgomery march for civil rights in 1965, but she
was at the very heart of events. Her recollections of that time are the
foundation of Child of the Civil Rights Movement, a wonderful picture
book memoir of the efforts that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
The grim reality of Jim Crow laws in the South drew her activist parents,
Andrew and Jean Childs Young, from New York City to Atlanta. Their family
experienced firsthand the “No blacks allowed here” environment; their home
became an important gathering place for Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph
Abernathy, Dorothy Cotton and other leaders in the growing movement – the
“family of the American civil rights movement” she knew so well. Shelton
describes discussions around the dinner table as a symphony of strong feelings
and calm reason, with all participants determined to launch a peaceful march
that would make a difference. The Youngs marched from Selma as a family –
children Andrea and Lisa and little Paula included. Several months later they
watched on TV as President Johnson, with Uncle Martin looking on, signed the
Voting Rights Act into law, a jubilant occasion. Illustrator Raul Colón’s rich
illustrations capture beautifully the sobering substance of this historic moment
and the strong and spirited light within its participants. Ages 5 up.
For older readers, Russell Freedman's Because
They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed
America is a riveting documentary look at the powerful struggle for
civil rights that look place in Alabama in the 1960s.
It chronicles the barriers that faced African Americans who
wished to vote, the numerous protests that took place, Bloody Sunday when 600
marchers were attacked by state troopers, the 54-mile Alabama
Freedom March and rally later in in the month attended by 25,000 people,
and other aspects of this momentous time. Ages 12 up.
