"This is a compelling story, with excellent historical documentation that will be of use to scholars for years to come."
—Minion K. C. Morrison, American Historical Review, June 2016
"Right to Revolt is an important book for anyone interested in the civil rights movement, Mississippi history, or racial justice. Through her profile of the freedom struggle in Hattiesburg and Laurel, Boyett demonstrates the deep roots of the 1960s mass movement and just how much was at stake. Black activists demanded full citizenship, thrived in freedom schools, and refused to back down, even in the face of unrelenting white resistance that ranged from the misuse of the legal system to economic terrorism and murder. Boyett details the horrific violence perpetrated by the Sam Bowers-led Klan, the eventual response by the FBI, and the subsequent court battles that illustrated the movement's achievements and limitations. Perhaps most importantly, Right to Revolt carries the story into the new century, highlighting the persistence of both African American activism and the white supremacy that remains the backdrop for life in Mississippi's Piney Woods."
—Emilye Crosby, professor of history at the State University of New York at Geneseo and editor of Civil Rights History from the Ground Up: Local Struggles, a National Movement
"Patricia Boyett has distilled a staggering amount of research into a remarkable examination of one of the least studied regions of the most chronicled civil rights battlegrounds in America—Mississippi. This book is essential reading for anyone who wonders what is left to learn about the Magnolia State's unfinished freedom struggle."
—Jason Morgan Ward, associate professor of history at Mississippi State University
"Boyett's evocative and richly detailed history of white supremacy and the struggle for black freedom in the Piney Woods region of Mississippi teaches us, as William Faulkner put it, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.' From the first days of settlement to recent efforts to win convictions for civil rights era racial murders and wrongful convictions, Right to Revolt demonstrates both the deep roots and long reach of racism and inequality as well as the bold, consistent efforts by African Americans toward equal justice and human dignity. This is local history at its best—a deep plunge into a region that teaches us about the larger forces in America as a whole."
—Danielle L. McGuire, author of 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
