The year 1963 was a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young Black girls, fire hoses and dogs were used against peaceful protesters, and Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and the writer James Baldwin were agitating for more action by American leaders.
Peniel Joseph writes about this pivotal year in his new book, “Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights Revolution.”
Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Peniel Joseph, who is a professor of public affairs and the founding director of the Center for Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Book excerpt: ‘Freedom Season’
By Peniel Joseph
Excerpted from “Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights Revolution” by Peniel E. Joseph. Copyright © 2025. Available from Basic Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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