The Civil Rights Movement, in Photographs

As a southerner who has sought to understand the immense importance of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., I have often depended on the written word. By that I mean I have tried to find and read the research of the best writers and scholars in the field, those of the past and those who are writing excellent studies today.

During a four-month period in 2006, I discovered a second way to learn about Black people and Civil Rights. Through the generosity of William (“Bill”) Ferris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I found something in the music of the South that I had not been fully aware of. Through auditing Bill’s class, I discovered that the Black music of the South conveys deep messages about the struggles and joys of Black folks. It became a new way for me to gain insight.

Now his new book “I AM A Man: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970” shows a third way of understanding the movement for equal rights. The black-and-white and color photos are not posed. They are real-time on-the-spot photos of protesters at lunch counters, department stores, marches, the University of Mississippi, the Lincoln Memorial. Real people who were trying to eliminate discrimination against Black people on buses, in jobs, at schools, and in voting booths.

Whether it is from movies, books, music, or photos, we can learn that Black lives do matter. Bill Ferris has helped us gain a deeper understanding of why those lives are important. And why we ought to care.

(260 words)

I AM A Man: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970 is published by the University Press of Mississippi. www.upress.state.ms.us (ISBN 978-1-4968-3162-0)
The book accompanies a major exhibition by the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The traveling version of this exhibit appeared at the Pavillon Populaire in Montepellier in France and in Jackson at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.