A fight for equality with long odds. An entrenched, bigoted, and powerful right wing. Liberals resistant to critiques from the left. The year wasn’t 2025, but 1963.
In Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights Revolution, Professor Peniel E. Joseph traces the ups and downs of that pivotal year through the eyes of James Baldwin and other key figures. Baldwin was on a mission to find out “what really got us where we are,” so we could chart a new path forward. Professor Joseph and I explore what lessons Baldwin’s push for a national reckoning—and the initial reluctance of leading Democrats to join him—can offer us today.
Professor Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and distinguished service leadership professor and professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author and editor of eight award-winning books.
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