More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Yohuru Williams, Michael G. Long

$23.09

Publication Date: August 29th, 2023

Publisher:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

ISBN:

9780374391744

Pages:

272

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Description

A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST SELECTION ● Hailed as “an essential reeducation on one of the most consequential events in US history” by Ibram X. Kendi, this gripping middle-grade account offers a fresh look at the groundbreaking 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by spotlighting the protest’s radical roots and the underappreciated role of Black women—includes a wealth of contemporary black-and-white photos throughout.

Six decades ago, on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—a moment often revered as the culmination of this Black-led protest. But at its core, the March on Washington was not a beautiful dream of future integration; it was a mass outcry for jobs and freedom NOW—not at some undetermined point in the future. It was a revolutionary march with its own controversies and problems, the themes of which still resonate to this day.

Without diminishing the words of Dr. King, More Than a Dream looks at the march through a wider lens, using Black newspaper reports as a primary resource, recognizing the overlooked work of socialist organizers and Black women protesters, and repositioning this momentous day as radical in its roots, methods, demands, and results. From Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, the acclaimed authors of Call Him Jack, comes a classic-in-the-making that will transform our modern understanding of this legendary event in the fight for racial justice and civil rights.

About the Author

Yohuru Williams is a professor of history and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. A regular contributor to a variety of media programming on CNN and History, he is the author of numerous books, including Teaching US History Beyond the Textbook, Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter, and More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The former chief historian of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, he appeared in Ken Burns’s Jackie Robinson and was one of the hosts of Sound Smart, the History Channel’s popular YouTube program. His educational videos on civil rights, social movements, and other historic events have garnered over 1 million views. He lives in Minnesota.

Michael G. Long is the author or editor of several books on politics, nonviolent protests, and civil rights history, including Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter; More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; Martin Luther King, Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement; and Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall. His commentary about civil rights has appeared in many national media outlets such as the Afro, the Los Angeles Times, and ESPN. Long also served as an expert historian for Ken Burns's documentary on Jackie Robinson. He lives in Pennsylvania.

Praise for More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST SELECTION
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Booklist Editor's Choice List Selection
A Chicago Public Library Best Informational Book for Older Readers of the Year
A Garden State Teen Book Awards Nonfiction Grades 6-12 Nominee
A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book of the Fall
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Common Sense Media Best Book of the Year
A The Progressive Magazine Favorite Book of the Year

“A frank and perspicuous study of the watershed 1963 event in the Civil Rights Movement . . . Rather than build their thoroughly researched account around Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Williams and Long focus on what went on behind the scenes to organize the one-day March on Washington . . . Numerous photos and news clippings add immediacy to events, and though the main story closes with the dispersal of the crowd at the historic day’s end, rich troves of additional facts and questions posed to readers spur further research and reflection. Coherent, compellingly passionate, rich in sometimes-startling and consistently well-founded insights.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The authors have relied heavily on contemporary newspaper stories, a number of which are reproduced here along with a generous collection of black-and-white photos. Important appended material evidences the authors’ deep research (18 pages of notes) and a collection of discussion questions. This is, in short, an indispensable work that belongs in every library.” —Booklist, starred review

“Williams and Long do more than retread the well-worn paths of this historic moment in the civil rights movement—they blaze an entirely new trail for our collective understanding of the 1963 March on Washington. More Than a Dream reorients the march's origins, reappraises its demands, and rejuvenates its modern day connections for young readers. Consider this an essential reeducation on one of the most consequential events in US history.” —Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist

“A detailed account . . . A remarkable blend of primary resources, firsthand accounts, and thought-provoking questions, readers will learn about the many important people of the Civil Rights Movement and the intricacies of executing such an event . . . Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal, starred review