The reader is drawn deeply into the lives of these courageous women, some of whom are well-known ... The others, less-familiar but no less compelling activists...tell striking and fascinating stories that greatly enrich our appreciation of the crucial roles women of diverse backgrounds played in the pivotal fight for civil rights.
The book is absorbing but uneven ... This book also would have benefited from a more substantial introduction. To be sure, Bell explains her motivation for the book, writing movingly about her mom, and about issues of gender and leadership, but she does not fully develop those themes or knit the stories of the nine women into an overarching narrative about gender relations in the movement ... Bell doesn’t explain why she chose these nine women. She also doesn’t explain their order in the book ... There is a memoir or autobiography in each of these women. But they are perhaps too modest to lift themselves up, which is why Bell’s book is so valuable. In many ways, I wanted more from this book. At the same time, this is just enough to encourage each of us to celebrate the women of the civil rights movement and to learn more about them.
What these brave women all have in common is humility and a belief that through working together, African American life can be improved and changed for the better ... Through the words of these women, Bell suggests that all of us can make a difference in our communities. An important book that should be read in all schools and wherever discussion of social issues takes place.
Fifty years after the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Bell’s oral history reflects on the contributions of some of the movement’s female leaders. Bell introduces each of the nine women, offering context for their lives and accomplishments. Throughout Bell’s interviews, many of these leaders refer to one another, an indication of how interconnected their contributions were. The nine histories intersect, but they are also easy to read as independent narratives ... Thanks to Bell’s work and these women’s willingness to share their stories, they are gaining that attention—even five decades later.
Without editorializing, Bell places these stories alongside each other to show the movement's many facets ... Bell also pays attention to women whose stories have been crowded out by those of the men in their lives ... Lighting the Fires of Freedom is meant to bring untold stories to the fore, a complementary piece to other, broader looks at American history regarding race. Bell reminds readers that one story is never enough to truly explain a movement.
Social justice advocate and television and radio producer Bell deploys impressive interviewing skills in this valuable collection of oral histories of nine female civil rights activists ... Some names might spark recognition ... The lesser-known women are equally fascinating, and their experiences attest to the wide-ranging projects ... This is a valuable and enlightening companion to other accounts of the movement.
African-American women contributed significantly to the campaign for racial justice. An Emmy-winning TV and radio producer, social justice activist Bell makes her literary debut with a revealing collection of oral histories by nine African-American women prominent in the civil rights movement ... Candid testimony from impressive and influential women.
