The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride – A Stephen Curry's Book Club Pick: A Father-Son Oral History of Resilience

$14.98
by David J. Dennis Jr

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A STEPHEN CURRY'S BOOK CLUB PICK SOUTHERN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS ALLIANCE BESTSELLER “A story of triumph and resilience centered around those who dedicated their lives to the Civil Rights movement. It reminds us that, in order to truly appreciate how far we’ve come—and how far we still have to go—we must acknowledge the past and pay homage to those who laid the foundation. It reminds us that everyday people can be heroes if they stand up for what’s right. It reminds us that we’re not alone in our experiences, and that if we work together, we can make impactful change.”—Stephen Curry “ The Movement Made Us takes literature to a momentous Southern Black space to which I honestly never thought a book could take us. This is literally the Movement that made us and both Davids love us whole here with a creation that is as ingenious as it is soulfully sincere. Stunning.”—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy A dynamic family exchange that pivots between the voices of a father and son,  The Movement Made Us  is a unique work of oral history and memoir, chronicling the extraordinary story of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and its living legacy embodied in Black Lives Matter. David Dennis Sr, a core architect of the movement, speaks out for the first time, swapping recollections both harrowing and joyful with David Jr, a journalist working on the front lines of change today.  Taken together, their stories paint a critical portrait of America, casting one nation’s image through the lens of two individual Black men and their unique relationship. Playful and searching, anxious and restorative, fearless and driving, this intimate memoir features scenes from across David Sr’s life, as he becomes involved in the movement, tries to move beyond it, and ultimately returns to it to find final solace and new sense of self—revealing a survivor who travels eternally with a cabal of ghosts.   A crucial addition to Civil Rights history,  The Movement Made Us  is the story of a nation reckoning with change and the hopes, struggles, setbacks, and triumphs of modern Black life. This is it: the extant chronicle of why we live, why we move, and for what we are made.  " The Movement Made Us takes literature to a momentous Southern Black space I honestly never thought a book could take us. This is literally the movement that made us and both Davids love us whole here with a creation that is as ingenious as it is soulfully sincere. Stunning." - Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy "Captivating from the opening sentence, David J. Dennis, Jr., proves that he is not only a great writer, but he is also a great witness. In  The Movement Made Us , Dennis, through a thoughtful and unsparing recalibration of history, captures all of the terrors of being Black in the United States, the diligence of our resistance work, the nuances of our existence, and the miracle of our survival. These are integral testimonies, these vivid, harrowing, and moving remembrances passed from ancestor to elder to son. The Movement Made Us  is a stunning chronicle of defiance." - Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets "Moving, evocative, and haunting, this father-son perspective on the civil rights movement is a necessary read and a great addition for all library collections." - Library Journal (starred review) "I learned a lot from this deep and lively memoir of the struggle to improve America. It is especially striking for its quick, graceful portraits of key figures such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and James Baldwin." - Thomas E. Ricks, author of Fiasco and Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 "The heavy toll exacted by the fight against Jim Crow is tallied in this gripping memoir. . . . A remarkably intimate and vivid portrait of the human side of the civil rights movement." - Publishers Weekly "Moving." - Essence "Powerful." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution "An incredible insight into not only how these activists planned and strategized around police lies, but it also revealed the daily trauma they endured due to the police officers." - Forbes “ The Movement Made Us hit me hard, deep in my gut . . . David Dennis, Sr. has always been a hero of mine, but I never knew his story; I only knew the intensity of his eyes, the quiver in his voice as he eulogized James Chaney. Now his son has brought the painful details of his life—of their life—to the page. This is a story of courage, sacrifice, loss, survivor’s guilt, and redemption. But, most importantly, it is a story of love . . . of us and of that between a son and his father.” - Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own “In this searing memoir of the civil rights movement, a father and son reckon with the costs exacted in that struggle—to the nation, to the movement, and most of all, to themselves and their relationship.  The Movement Made Us is a must-read work for anyone seeking to unde

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