At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power

I want to tell every white person to read this book. To read it all the way through and then sit down and think about it. Take notes. Think about it some more. Does this narrative match what you learnt at school? Does it match your experience growing up? Does this USA resemble the USA you have been living in? At the Dark End of the Street is a hard read. Inside we learn about what happened to Recy Taylor in detail. About all of the work Rosa Parks was doing years before she refused to get up from that bus seat. About the countless cases of brutality and rape of black women by white men. Of the countless cases where white women called rape on innocent black men. Be prepared to be sickened by the institutionalized suffering, and also by the fact that your fellow humans doled this violence out on a daily basis, and still do. A detailed and acute research on the involvement and importance of women in the civil rights movement, this book is also a deep insight into the horrific and widespread use of sexual violence by white men to keep black women silent and to exert dominance. Sexual violence is often used as a weapon in war, we have seen many examples of this in the past and in the present, but the extent of its use in the US, and how it was constantly disregarded by the authorities, or even used against victims, is abhorrent. But these stories must be told because they should never be erased and forgotten. In addition to being a huge minefield of information, events, and facts that are not taught in history books, this book is an important reminder of how black women’s voices have been consistently erased through time. Their overwhelming role in the Montgomery bus boycott reduced to a mere footnote, the tireless activism years and years before the civil rights movement took off stuffed away in the vaults of an archive, and the work that they continue to do on a daily basis forgotten. There is so much important information in this book, sometimes it actually feels overwhelming and frustrating at the same time because it really should be common knowledge. I initially got this one from the library, but I bought a copy for myself as I feel like I only scratched the surface by reading it once and need to be able to refer back to it again and again. Can we add this book to the curriculum please? My kids will be asked to read it as soon as they are old enough to.

Should be taught in all schools. It documents the special ongoing oppression of black women by rape. They grew up knowing their bodies were not their own but the property of any passing white. This book documents the courage with which they fought back against overwhelming odds to report these crimes and receive legal justice and the ongoing failure of state and federal powers to take steps. The bus boycott was organized and led by women against a system where bus drivers were free to beat them and sexually harass them. Many were beaten and raped and lost their jobs but in the face of death did not give up. The crimes detailed here are horrid to read but the courage of the women and men who protested should not be forgotten. The book has a lot of footnotes and a long bibliography for those who want to read more and she has interviewed many who took part. Others have pointed that Rosa Parks was an active freedom fighter and that other women had been protesting bus unequal practices. It is well written and very readable. Mike Ditka football player who just stated there has been no oppression in 100 yrs should be forced to read this. If he is going to make stupid statements he should know his facts.

I have always known the fight for civil rights had its roots in the middle class. It wasn't poor sharecroppers who wanted equal access to the lunch counter. But I was really surprised how the Montgomery bus boycott started with women fed up with the indiscriminate sexual violence by white men and how the judicial system turned a blind eye to their efforts to bring their attackers to justice. HOWEVER... in order for the boycott to succeed, E.D. Nixon and other middle class blacks, put Parks on a pedestal similiar to her white middle class counterpart, portraying her as a scion of black republican motherhood. Unlike the two other girls before her who had been arrested for violating the segregation law, she has light skin, was middle class and had no scandalous demons to hide ( the first girl, Claudette Colvin, was a pregnant teenager). In fact Nixon took great pains to hide Parks work for the NAACP as a field reporter,and activist. E.D. Nixon and other ministers who formed the Montgomery Improvement Association completely bogarted all of the organizational efforts of Joanne Robinson and other women who began efforts to boycott local merchants as early as the late 1940's after the attack of local teen by a grocery store owner. No women were allowed in the organization in a leadership position and their names were not on the letterhead. This book is amazing and I am only on page 80! It is a must read if not for a history of civil rights but as a real awakening of the class and gender issues perculating within the movement itself!

Sobering and Inspirational. It gives people the impetus to tell their stories. A must read for all, and especially for those dealing with the yoke of oppression.

Such a fascinating read about a subject I previously knew nothing about. Dr McGuire's research is impeccable and her writing is engaging, passionate and accessible. Thoroughly recommended.

Thoroughly researched, well written history of the role of black women and their struggle for control of their bodies in the civil rights movement. A must for anyone interested in American history and society.

Good read of the true usa still to this day

A really really great book with another story of Rosa Parks' activism, another side of back in the days white supremacy down south, a story of black feminism finally. Strongly advised