In Hands on the Freedom Plow, fifty-two womenonorthern and southern, young and old, urban and rural, black, white, and Latinaoshare their courageous personal stories of working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. The testimonies gathered here present a sweeping personal history of SNCC: early sit-ins, voter registration campaigns, and Freedom Rides; the 1963 March on Washington, the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Movements in Alabama and Maryland; and Black Power and antiwar activism. Since the women spent time in the Deep South, many also describe risking their lives through beatings and arrests and witnessing unspeakable violence. These intense stories depict women, many very young, dealing with extreme fear and finding the remarkable strength to survive. The women in SNCC acquired new skills, experienced personal growth, sustained one another, and even had fun in the midst of serious struggle. Readers are privy to their analyses of the Movementoits tactics, strategies, and underlying philosophies. The contributors revisit central debates of the struggle including the role of nonviolence and self-defense, the role of white people in a black-led movement, and the role of women within the Movement and the society at large. Each story reveals how the struggle for social change was formed, supported, and maintained by the women who kept their ''hands on the freedom plow.''
''This amazing book rethreads the needle of memory with a stronger cord woven of the testimonies of sisters who never gave up or in.'' Darlene Clark Hine, co-author of The African American Odyssey ''The testimonies of these remarkable women are an indispensable part of the history of the southern movement against racial segregation.'' Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present ''Hats off to the Hands On sisters! Each story is a treasure, each woman a measure of the Civil Rights Movement's strength.'' Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors ''This is a splendid, spectacular, stirring book. At last the long-marginalized women of SNCC tell their galvanizing, enspiriting stories in their own words.'' Blanche Wiesen Cook, University Distinguished Professor, John Jay College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, and author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Volumes 1-3 ''These gripping narratives by tough, resilient women, these tales of courage, perseverance, hope, and dedication to a cause, portray an amazing time in America.'' Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln ''This marvellously broad and deep collection of SNCC women's voices gives the reader a rare insight into the trials and triumphs of the black freedom struggle of the 1960s.'' Cynthia Griggs Fleming, author of Yes We Did? From King's Dream to Obama's Promise ''Hands on the Freedom Plow is, quite simply, a stunning collection. These stories of courage, hope, and, yes, conflict, will inspire all Americans who believe in the possibilities of democracy.'' John Dittmer, author of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi ''This collection provides the texture and tone of that eclectic group of women who joined together in common cause, still debating and disagreeing along the way, but united by overlapping values, newfound courage, and the ambitious dream of changing the political face of the nation.'' Barbara Ransby, author of Ella Baker and the Black Radical Tradition: A Radical Democratic Vision ''These women's lives, spent in the freedom struggle, call to us. Their political insight and creativity make them American heroines; their strategic vision allows them to point a better way forward for all, worldwide, who aspire to equality and democracy.'' Wesley C. Hogan, author of Many Minds, One Heart: SNCC's Dream for a New America ''A remarkable achievement, sweeping in scope, rich with detail, and infinitely readable. Without question, this is the new starting point for learning about the central role that SNCC, and women, played in the African American freedom struggle.'' Hasan Kwame Jeffries, author of Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama's Black Belt
