April 1, 2003
Despite its uplifting title, this wide-ranging anthology admirably includes both the most famous civil rights speeches of American history and lesser known, often angrier voices. Organizing the speeches chronologically, editor Gottheimer, who was one of President Clinton's speechwriters, delves as far back as 1789, when"a free Negro," name unknown, eloquently lamented the fact that"there are men who will not be persuaded that it is possible for a human soul to be lodged within a sable body." The second chapter,"Measured Gains: Two Steps Forward, One Step Backward," covers the period from 1866 to 1949, and encompasses voices as diverse as Marcus Garvey, Eleanor Roosevelt and Alonso Perales ("Defending Mexican Americans"). Although Gottheimer has limited the collection to speeches about African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, gays and lesbians and women, the astounding variety of rhetorical and political strategies enlisted by the speakers are not only instructive but make for engaging reading. In speeches from the civil rights era, for example, Martin Luther King's"I Have a Dream" appears with Howard"Judge" Smith's"Sex Discrimination in the Civil Rights Act," Malcolm X's"The Ballot or the Bullet," and Stokely Carmichael's"Black Power." As Gottheimer acknowledges, the pickings among present-day civil rights speeches are slim and acidic (ACT UP pioneer Larry Kramer rails against his own audience in 1987, for example), but the selection is never less than judicious, revealing and notably authoritative. 8 pages of photos.
April 15, 2003
Gottheimer reproduces the eloquent and evolving voices of people who advanced liberty for African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, gays, and women. Offering 98 selections in four parts, the one-time chief of staff of Bill Clinton's White House speech-writing office chronicles the periods 1780-1865, 1866-1949, 1950-69, and 1970-2000, introducing each piece with a brief biographical and historical note to set the speaker, time, place, and significance. His richly illuminating entries both celebrate the distance that the United States has come since the bleakest days of public oppression and observe the critical struggle against continuing discrimination. Many well-known and less familiar speakers appear (a few, such as Martin Luther King Jr., turn up several times) as Gottheimer traces interconnections among protest movements and marks their rhetorical roots in the struggle of blacks against the racist oppression of slavery and segregation. Citations or notes on sources would have further polished the collection, and inescapable quibbles may challenge to displace some selections with others. But Gottheimer's work is destined to be a classic reference for anyone seriously interested in civil rights or great American speeches.-Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 15, 2003
Gottheimer, onetime speechwriter for former president Clinton (who wrote the foreword), offers an incredible collection of inspiring speeches on the social movements that have changed America. Gottheimer examines speeches as tools of persuasion and relates the history behind the speakers and their movements and their fervor and passion, which caused them to put their careers and sometimes their lives at risk. Organized chronologically, beginning with an antislavery speech by an unknown freedman in 1789, the book focuses on five distinct social movements--African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, gay, and women's--from the colonial period to the present. The collection includes speeches by Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, Jesse Jackson, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as lesser-known speakers. Gottheimer precedes each speech with historical context, emphasizing that many speakers drew on the experiences of African Americans, from uneducated freed slaves who relied on oral traditions to the more polished speeches of the civil rights era. For readers interested in speech as a protest tool.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)