Acknowledgments

 

This book stems from my long-standing interest in the American South and commitment to issues of social justice. The two came together, not for the first time, in 2011 when I conducted two public interviews, in London and Glasgow, with Clarence Jones, who wrote the draft text of Martin Luther King’s speech at the March on Washington. I have long been intrigued by how the speech became lionized and the wildly conflicting interpretations of it that have circulated. And my conversations with Jones, both on and off stage, showed me that the manner in which the speech was written and delivered, the political moment that made it possible, and the occasion at which it was given said as much about the speech as the words themselves.

This book includes many interviews I have conducted over the last sixteen years with a range of civil rights leaders, activists, and other political and cultural commentators. To present a full and vivid portrayal, it also weaves together a number of other autobiographical and historical accounts of which I am not the source. All are listed in the bibliography and credited frequently throughout the book. But in the absence of footnotes and out of respect for their contributions, I would also like to express a particular debt of gratitude to the hard work and scholarship of a few without whom this book would not have been possible: Drew Hansen, author of The Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation; Charles Euchner, who wrote Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington; Nick Bryant, author of The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and The Struggle for Black Equality; and Taylor Branch for Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63. These books were not just invaluable to my research, they are invaluable, period.

Also crucial to this book and the body of work focusing on this era are Eyes on The Prize by Juan Williams, The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D’Emilio, and My Soul Is Rested by Howell Raines, as well as the accounts of Clarence Jones in Behind the Dream and John Lewis in Walking with the Wind.

I’d also like to thank Julie Fain, my Haymarket editor, for immediately realizing the potential for this book and supporting me throughout its writing; Anthony Arnove, also of Haymarket, for his lucid and consistent advice and encouragement; Ruth Goring, whose precision and clarity made substantial improvements; and the staff at Haymarket who’ve worked so hard to promote the book within a tight schedule. In his editing of the first draft, Colin Robinson’s speed and attention to detail went above and beyond the call of duty. I thank my agent, Jonny Geller, for more than a decade of advocating for my work and representing my interests on both sides of the Atlantic.

Finally, I’d like to thank Tara and Osceola for bearing with me as I wrote it, and Zora, who came into this world right in the middle of it.