V. P. Franklin crafts a full-length history of the children and teen activists who participated in and led key protests during the Civil Rights Movement.
Franklin successfully fills in the gaps in knowledge regarding the many young African Americans across the country who stood up to racism, hatred, police oppression and physical violence to make a difference and allows them, in many cases, to tell their story in their own voices. Franklin showcases the immense power, resilience and unbreakable spirit shown by young activists, some as young as 6 years old, by drawing on newspaper articles, history books, interviews, autobiographies, academic journals and other sources ... the book’s only flaw is that it packs too much — too many names, places, dates, incidents and quotes — into its 236 pages, which makes it hard to keep up. The author never stops for long on a single event, and there is no space for the history of everything and everyone he mentions. The breakneck speed and fragmented nature of the writing demand careful, attentive reading, but Franklin always returns to the message at the core of his narrative ... The book, which includes eight pages of black-and-white photos and notes that offer an outstanding bibliography, celebrates the young people who became activists and changed the country for getting into 'good trouble,' as the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis put it. While history is important, this message is what makes the book memorable, and it’s the element that brings it to the present and strongly ties it to the Black Lives Matter movement.
... authoritative ... Franklin provides a richer history of the young activists who marched in the South and provides an unflinching look at the brutality they faced. He also looks at the students who pushed for education reform and youth involvement in Black Power. It’s an empowering history of the work young activists have done throughout the 20th century ... Franklin’s history of student involvement in protest provides a rich historical perspective on the ongoing struggles for equality in the United States. Highly Recommended.
