Hosea Williams Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

When civil rights leader Hosea Lorenzo Williams died in 2000 US Congressman John Lewis said of him Hosea Williams must be looked upon as one of the founding fathers of the new America Through his actions he helped liberate all of usIn this first comprehensive biography of Williams Rolundus Rice demonstrates the truth in Lewiss words and argues that Williamss activism in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference SCLC was of central importance to the success of the larger civil rights movement Rice traces Williamss journey from a local activist in Georgia to a national leader and one of Martin Luther King Jrs chief lieutenants He helped plan the SelmatoMontgomery march and walked shouldertoshoulder with Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody SundayWilliams played the role of enforcer in SCLC always ready to deploy what he called his arsenal of agitation While his hardcharging tactics may have seemed out of step with the more diplomatic approach of other SCLC leaders Rice suggests that it was precisely this contrast in styles that made the organization so successful Rice also follows Williamss career after Kings assassination as Williams moved into local Atlanta politics While his style made him loved by some and hated by others readers will come to appreciate the central role that Williams played in the most successful nonviolent revolution in American historyAndrew Young Jr former SCLC executive director US Congressman US Ambassador to the United Nations and mayor of Atlanta provides a foreword