Say It Plain

A moving portrait of how black Americans have spoken out against injustice-with speeches by Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, and more. In "e;full-throated public oratory, the kind that can stir the soul"e;, this unique anthology collects the transcribed speeches of the twentieth century's leading African American cultural, literary, and political figures, many never before available in printed form (Minneapolis Star-Tribune). From an 1895 speech by Booker T. Washington to Julian Bond's sharp assessment of school segregation on the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board in 2004, the collection captures a powerful tradition of oratory by political activists, civil rights organizers, celebrities, and religious leaders going back more than a century. Including the text of each speech with an introduction placing it in historical context, Say It Plain is a remarkable record from the back-to-Africa movement to the civil rights era and the rise of black nationalism and beyond conveying a struggle for freedom and a challenge to America to live up to its democratic principles. Includes speeches by:- Mary McLeod Bethune- Julian Bond- Stokely Carmichael- Shirley Chisholm- Louis Farrakhan- Marcus Garvey- Jesse Jackson- Martin Luther King Jr. - Thurgood Marshall- Booker T. Washington- Walter White