Publishers Weekly
11/16/2020
This revelatory collection of classroom lectures by UVA history professor and Georgia state senator Bond (1940–2015) shines a spotlight on lesser-known aspects of the civil rights movement. Expertly edited by Horowitz, Bond’s wife, and Brooklyn College political science professor Theoharis (A More Beautiful and Terrible History), his former teaching assistant, the pieces challenge the “master narrative” of the movement: “Rosa sat down, Martin stood up, then the white folks saw the light and saved the day.” Bond details how thousands of young, poor, and working-class protestors applied the pressure that led to school integration and the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, among other milestones, and notes that liberal white politicians, including John and Robert Kennedy, resisted the movement in its earliest days. Bond also pays tribute to numerous grassroots leaders, many of them women; reveals affinities between the civil rights, Black Power, and antiapartheid movements; and details disagreements between SNCC, the NAACP, and other civil rights organizations. Elegant photos by SNCC photographer Danny Lyon and an extensive bibliography compiled by Bond complement the eye-opening history. The result is a worthy contribution to the historical record and an inspirational guide for today’s social justice activists. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
It’s easy to understand why these courses would have been popular. His lectures are accessible, comprehensive, and compelling, and Bond, who once hosted Saturday Night Live, and who appeared in a couple of commercial films, was a charismatic presence. This authoritative testimony is bound to become a staple of American civil rights literature.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Mixing reminiscence and analysis of the long struggle against white supremacy, Bond’s lessons provide general readers and scholars alike penetrating studies of ideals, motivations, compromises, suffering, and sacrifice that won Blacks’ release from the worst of racist Southern pathology. Essential reading.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“[A] . . . revelatory collection of classroom lectures . . . The result is a worthy contribution to the historical record and an inspirational guide for today’s social justice activists.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This series of inspiring lectures, which Bond delivered in his popular college courses, is an indispensable master class that resonates with the current times. Within a broad synthesis of the freedom movement, Bond reflects stirringly on his own experiences, making this deep dive into civil rights history an engaging memoir as well as a guide for twenty-first-century crusades for equal rights. The dynamic narrative is made even more so by Danny Lyon’s photographs of the era.”
—The New York Times
“Jackson’s deep-voiced delivery is smooth and unemotional, suiting both the topic and the sometimes disturbing subject matter. . . . Jackson’s steady, polished narration allows listeners to reflect while absorbing this comprehensive history.”
—AudioFile Magazine
“There was no better teacher of the civil rights movement than Julian Bond. There is no better book for learning the civil rights movement than Julian Bond’s Time to Teach. Bond’s window into his movement will always be with us. His lessons for our movement will always be with us. An utterly invaluable resource.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning
“Every chapter radiates deep wisdom, fierce historical reality, and far-sighted philosophical insights. Bond brilliantly comes to grips with what freedom, social justice, and genuine racial equality are about in the American (and global) context.”
—Douglas Brinkley, the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history, Rice University
“Julian Bond lived this history with unflinching dignity and matchless grace. I miss him dearly. Our wounded country needs every lesson he teaches.”
—Taylor Branch, author of the trilogy America in the King Years
“Julian Bond, who was one of the greatest people I ever met, was a dedicated teacher, scholar, and civil rights leader. Julian Bond’s Time to Teach is a gift and should be required reading for every American. Bond’s words are a guiding light to the power we all possess.”
—Dave Matthews, Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter
“The lessons in these lectures speak directly to the urgency of now, like an unsparing and prophetic admonishment to those who can or will not remember the past.”
—Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning book Carry Me Home
“Julian Bond’s words continue to educate, inspire, and provoke. As we witness the emergence of new sensibilities regarding the complex ways racism has structured our institutions, Julian Bond’s Time to Teach reminds us of historical continuities, unfulfilled dreams, and collective hope for the future.”
—Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
“Forty years ago, I had the good fortune to hear Julian Bond speak. I was a third-year law student at Ole Miss, and there were plenty of skeptics in the crowd. They didn’t bother him; nothing did. He was cool, polished, smart, dramatic, and thoroughly prepared. I admitted to myself that I would never be able to speak like him. And I was correct.”
—John Grisham
Library Journal
★ 11/01/2020
As a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); as a member of the Georgia state legislature from 1967 to 1987; and as chairman of the NAACP (1998- 2010), Bond (1940–2015) lived the struggle to achieve democracy in 20th-century America and beyond. Along with being a participant and insider, he was also a student and teacher of social movements in general and the civil rights movement in particular. This compilation of his original lecture notes is filled with detail, insight, and synopsis. The graceful narrative lays out pointers for effective mobilization as it explains what happened and who made it happen at pivotal times in the 1950s and 1960s' nationalization of the civil rights movement that transcended traditional legal approaches to take the battle from courtrooms to the streets. Included are photographs by Danny Lyon and an afterword by Vann R. Newkirk II. VERDICT Mixing reminiscence and analysis of the long struggle against white supremacy, Bond's lessons provide general readers and scholars alike penetrating studies of ideals, motivations, compromises, suffering, and sacrifice that won Blacks' release from the worst of racist Southern pathology. Essential reading.—Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
