In 1968, parents in Brooklyn, N.Y., created an independent school board to run the failing elementary schools in the predominantly black community of Ocean Hill-Brownsville. In Detroit, striking black auto workers formed the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement to fight racism at the plant where they worked. At the University of Illinois, black students took over the student union building, demanding the creation of a black studies program and a black cultural center.
These stories and others are told in Driven by the Movement: Activists of the Black Power Era, the inspirational stories of twenty African-American social justice activists during the Black Power decade of 1965-1975. Sometimes putting their personal lives on hold, these unsung heroes and heroines organized against police brutality, poverty, hunger, job discrimination, colonialism in Africa, and other issues of the time. Discover what motivated these men and women to get involved in the black liberation struggle and how their work transformed them, their communities, and race relations in the United States.
Read a free excerpt of the book at http://www.poweroflearning.com.
Driven by the Movement is available in paperback and may be ordered online at amazon.com.
About the Author
JoNina Abron-Ervin is a veteran African-American social justice activist. For nearly a decade, she was a member of the Black Panther Party and was the last editor of the Black Panther newspaper. A retired Western Michigan University associate professor of communication, she has written essays about the Black Power era in several books. She is available to speak at colleges and universities and before community organizations. Contact her at joninaervin@comcast.net or at P.O. Box 16382, Memphis, TN 38186-0382.
