More Voices of Civil Rights Lawyers

The

legal struggle for civil rights throughout the Southeast and into the 1980s



In this book, twenty-three

lawyers discuss their experiences in the struggle to advance and maintain civil

rights in the United States South. While the lives of civil rights lawyers are

often unknown or forgotten, this book draws attention to the importance of lawyers

in facilitating dramatic sociopolitical changes, illustrates the

realities of working in this profession, and shows the ways in which civil

rights were--and still are--tested at every turn.



The events

documented here happened not just in the 1960s and '70s but also in the 1980s, and

this book highlights the emergence of a new generation of lawyers who continued

to advocate for racial equity and expanded into other areas of social justice

work, such as labor and gender. In addition, while the civil rights

movement is commonly identified with protests in Deep South states, many of its

activities and court challenges occurred beyond the region, and this book

widens the geographic lens to include narratives from frontline lawyers in

Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.



Many of the

struggles documented in these firsthand accounts provide the context for

contemporary civil rights concerns, including voting rights. As gains from this

historic period are being contested and even rolled back, these narratives help

readers remember the ubiquity of injustices in that time and to recognize the

systemic discrimination and racism that continue to undermine basic civil

rights today.





Contributors: Robert L. Wiggins Jr. James Blacksher

Alan Levine Melvyn R. Leventhal David Rudovsky James Ayers Chevene

King Jr. John Gresham David Kern Jack Drake Stephen Oleskey Kent Hull

Kent Spriggs Charles Stephen Ralston Barbara Phillips Jim Rowan Michael

B. Trister Bruce Rogow Wilhelm H. Joseph Kenneth Cloke Gerry Hebert Paul

Harris Martha Bergmark Amy Ruth Tobol