Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Reader reviewed by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, The Original H.I.R. (Historical Investigative Reporter)

If you are building your historical library and want a moving book full of beautiful illustrations and historical facts, be sure to pick up a copy of Child of the Civil Rights Movement, by Paula Young Shelton.

This very important book documents a turbulent time in our history, and does so by combining Shelton's simplistic writing with the soothingly-beautiful illustrations of Raul Colon. Together, Shelton and Colon breathe new life into long-past events, where little children were forced to watch their beloved families be barred from restaurants and restrooms, simply because of the color of their skin.

Shelton is the daughter of politician, human rights activist and businessman Andrew Young, and quite naturally, she experienced many events from the Civil Rights movement firsthand. In Child of the Civil Rights Movement, she relays those memories with an easy feel, referring to members of her big Civil Rights family by their first names. There is her "Uncle Martin" (none other than Martin Luther King, Jr.), her "Aunt Coretta," and many other bigger-than-life personalities who, for many of us, were once only names in a book.

Shelton describes what it was like when white restaurant owners refused to seat her family, and how she sat down, cried loudly and engaged in her very own "little sit in." She recalls seeing a television news show about the Freedom Riders, black and white students whose bus was set on fire as they rode to the South to protest bad laws. She also relives how her father was "always marching, organizing, registering voters, protesting unfair laws, and teaching nonviolence," and how he was sometimes beaten for these things.

Even in the face of so dark a subject, Shelton brings out the sunshine and beauty of people like Andrew Young and Martin Luther King, Jr., showing readers how they achieved much, despite what they went through. The book culminates with the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery (with a National Guard escort all the way), which inspired President Johnson to sign the bill that made sure all people--black and white--had the opportunity to vote.

For a moving story about a brave young Civil Rights participant and her brave family and friends, be sure to read Child of the Civil Rights Movement.

Ms. Young, thanks for the memories.