... powerful ... Eloquent and captivating, [Roundtree's] book weaves personal memories with history’s scope ... Roundtree’s tone is candid and engaging ... Humble, reflective, and triumphant, the text details a life of determination, sacrifice, hope, and unending love of knowledge. Mighty Justice is an inspiring and intense memoir by an extraordinary woman and mentor who deserves a high profile in American history.
Throughout, Roundtree relates her triumphs and personal tragedies with an honesty and optimism borne of the religious faith that inspired her to add ordination as a minister to her long list of attainments. Readers will find her dogged certainty in the inevitable triumph of justice in times of social upheaval both timely and inspiring ... This superb work should ensure that Roundtree receives the recognition she richly deserves.
In this apparent golden age of memoir, some stories shine brighter than others. Mighty Justice is one lucent example of the brighter variety ... the product of McCabe's decade-long collaboration with Roundtree, who died in 2018 at age 104, no doubt convinced that her work wasn't done. The awe-eliciting Mighty Justice makes an airtight case that Roundtree accomplished more than enough.
Very satisfying is getting to know towering civil and women's rights figures, such as Bethune and Thurgood Marshall, the latter well before he became the first African-American justice to join the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. There are many more, albeit lesser known, titans of civil rights that Roundtree makes familiar, particularly her Howard law professor, James Madison Nabrit Jr. ... It's like pulling up a seat to listen in as Roundtree details the long, slow and painful path to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 'Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka' in 1954 that took on segregation in public education. ... The storytelling of these and others of Roundtree's cases — not only those with national civil rights consequences but criminal and civil cases as well — are riveting for their first-person accounting. And that she also became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1961 — to then juggle both ministry and a successful law practice — is notable.
Award-winning author Katie McCabe worked for 10 years in collaboration with African American activist Dovey Johnson Roundtree to create this remarkable chronicle of one of the 20th century’s outstanding military, legal and civil rights luminaries ... McCabe was fortunate to work in close communication with this amazing woman and record her memories in what she describes as a transformative relationship. For McCabe’s part, she brought Roundtree’s extraordinary autobiography into the spotlight.
Thoughtful and highly inspiring, this book, co-authored by McCabe, is not only a moving memoir; it is also an important contribution to the history of civil rights in America ... An eloquently told story that should make an impact.
The life of African-American civil rights lawyer Roundtree...is chronicled in this inspirational, history-rich memoir ... In straightforward, somewhat dutiful prose, [McCabe] covers her many transformative moments ... This eye-opening, accessible book documents the life of a trailblazing human rights advocate.
