Deep in Our Hearts: Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement »

Deep in Our Hearts is an eloquent and powerful book that takes us into the lives of nine young women who came of age in the 1960s while committing themselves actively and passionately to the struggle for racial equality and justice. These compelling first-person accounts take us back to one of the most tumultuous periods in our nation’s history--to the early days of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Albany Freedom Ride, voter registration drives and lunch counter sit-ins, Freedom Summer, the 1964 Democratic Convention, and the rise of Black Power and the women’s movement. The book delves into the hearts of the women to ask searching questions. Why did they, of all the white women growing up in their hometowns, cross the color line in the days of segregation and join the Southern Freedom Movement? What did they see, do, think, and feel in those uncertain but hopeful days? And how did their experiences shape the rest of their lives?

Library Journal

In these absorbing essays, nine white women write about their experiences in the Freedom Movement of the 1960s and how it shaped their lives. They come from diverse backgrounds: Southern and Northern, poor and middle-class. Each discusses how her upbringing prepared her for participation in the movement, the exhilaration of fighting for justice during Freedom Summer at sit-ins or registration drives, her grief when whites were later expelled from the movement, and the lasting impact of the movement on her life. Also interesting is each contributor's perspective on gender issues during the Civil Rights era and her individual response to the nascent women's movement. All of the authors were connected to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and knew each other slightly, which leads to some repetition of incidents when the book is read cover to cover. But, taken individually, each story is a powerful testament to a time when the goal of universal justice was in sight. An excellent choice for any library with a strong Civil Rights or women's studies collection.--Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.