![]() ![]() Lucidly written and generously illustrated with photos and artifacts, this rigorous and entertaining history deserves a wide readership.ĭriving While Black also chronicles the rise of car culture in tandem with rock ‘n’ roll music (Chuck Berry loved his Cadillacs), as well as the vast network of black-friendly establishments outlined in the popular Green Book. ![]() Instead, she blends her own family’s history, and those who experienced the black travel revolution, to make the book enjoyable and noteworthy since it shows how the changes ushered in civil rights. In Sorin’s work, her prose and talent for turning examples into captivating stories prevent the book from being a mere sociological study of how black travel changed the nation. ![]() The sweeping story of African Americans and automobiles-a tale of mobility and mobilization that helped fuel the Civil Rights Movement.Ī riveting story on how the automobile opened up opportunities for blacks in the U.S…. This excellent history illuminates how car ownership provided a measure of safety and independence and also played a vital role in the civil-rights movement. Michael Kleber-Diggs - Minneapolis Star-Tribune Sorin combines impeccable, exhaustive research and personal stories with a seamless elegance, somehow managing to hold the object under examination far enough away to consider it fully and close enough to really inhabit it. She writes in a way that academics and laypersons will both admire. Sorin, a professor at State University of New York at Albany, dazzles with plain language. It is the work of a brilliant mind and a beautiful heart. Carter, Bloomberg, "Best Nonfiction Books of 2020"ĭriving While Black is a marvel. Sorin weaves together gruesome tales of Black accident victims, the way Black affluence led corporations to try to profit from integration, and much more. I’d never given much thought to how the ability of Black families to afford cars and go places influenced the course of history. A scholarly examination of the history of black mobility in this country from the antebellum period to now, including the ongoing quest by whites in power to deny or restrict that mobility. Deeply researched… Driving While Black is more focused on the history of African-American car ownership and travel, exploring why both have been so important to African-American life. Sorin’s groundbreaking work, currently being adapted by Ric Burns and Steeplechase Films for PBS, examines how access to car travel created safe ways for black families to exercise the fundamental American right to move, unobstructed, through the country–previously restricted to whites only.Ĭommemorate Juneteenth 2020 by joining a discussion of this history and its greater relevance in light of recent events. This event is co-sponsored by the Piscataway African American Seniors Club.Make powerfully clear the magnitude of the injustices and harrowing encounters endured by African-Americans traveling by ‘open’ road, as well as of their quiet acts of rebellion and protest, which went far beyond having to find alternative places to eat, sleep and buy gas…. She is the director and distinguished professor at Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY Oneonta.ĭriving While Black is an account of the relationship between the automobile and the African American experience during the Jim Crow Era and beyond in the United States. A preview of the forthcoming PBS documentary based on Dr. Gretchen Sorin for a discussion of her new book, Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights, on Wednesday, June 17 at 7pm. ![]() Piscataway Public Library is hosting professor, historian, and museum consultant, Dr. Please register at DQssRawv5DM4KdWu5 to receive a link to the event. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |