Book Description

In the summer of 1965, an eighteen-year-old boy, filled with frustration and anger at the injustices of the segregated society in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, volunteers to help Civil Rights workers sent to Alabama by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as part of a campaign to register black people to vote. A few short months later, he finds himself in Atlanta, standing in the sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church being interviewed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a position on SCLC's field staff. As a young foot soldier in the Civil Rights Movement, author John Reynolds was an eyewitness to history. In The Fight for Freedom, he shares his experiences in some of the hot spots of that day, such as Selma, Birmingham, and Mississippi. A passionate and dedicated soldier, Reynolds was jailed more than twenty times and beaten on numerous occasions as he went through some of the toughest battles of the movement and played a role in awakening the national conscience and redeeming the soul of America. "The revealing, relevant, coming-of-age tale of a man and a nation. Tracing his years in the civil rights movement, Reynolds offers an insider's view of the people, events and tactics that brought the United States closer to the fulfillment of the founders' promise that 'all men are created equal.' Although this account concerns a time now past, it's nonetheless a timely reminder that citizens should always be ready to fight the good fight." -Excerpt from Kirkus Reviews