Both an inspirational and a cautionary tale about idealists in action: M.J. O’Brien takes an iconic Civil Rights era photograph and uses it as scaffolding for a nuanced history of the Jackson Movement. The story O’Brien tells about that summer in ’63 is messy, contradictory, passionate and, in the end, indeterminate. There are no clear winners or losers, no saints or sinners, and no outward change in the apartheid world of Mississippi, just a lot of people struggling through the molasses that is social change. Yet that summer marks a tipping point from which the established order will never pull back.

Quotes from the three lunch counter protesters caught in the famous photo —

Anne Moody and Joan Trumpauer, remembering the August 28 March on Washington:
“Moody and Trumpauer had similar reactions to Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech that day. Both felt he was talking about pie in the sky. ‘Certainly at this point, looking back on it and reading the speech and hearing it again, I can see the majesty of it,’ Trumpauer later admitted. ‘But our reaction as young radicals was, “He’s in his own dream world.”’ Moody’s recollection was even more pointed: ‘I sat on the grass and listened to the speakers, to discover we had “dreamers” instead of leaders …. Martin Luther King went on and on talking about his dream …. In Canton [where the KKK terrorized Civil Rights’ workers] we never had time to sleep, much less dream.’” loc. 5269

John Salter, on the personal aftermath of that summer:
“ … he would wake up every night in a sweat, smelling blood - an experience he continued to have, though with less frequency, for the rest of his life.” loc. 5148

On May 5, 1963, a group of young Americans walked up to a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi and sat down. Any other day, this would have been no big deal, but this was a whites-only counter and they were not all white. In Hinds County, Mississippi, this was seen as an affront to their way of life. The Jim Crow laws were deeply ensconced in the culture, and many people thought “separate but equal” was a legitimate system that allowed for all parties to thrive with dignity. But this was not the case. M.J. O’Brien’s We Shall Not Be Moved centers around this sit-in and chronicles the civil rights movement from the perspective of those on the ground.

This book centers around a pivotal image of the civil rights movement. The three visible sit-in participants—John Salter (Native American), Joan Trumpauer (a white civil liberties activist), and Anne Moody (an African-American)—are seen sitting, waiting to be treated as equals. They are covered with ketchup, salt, sugar, mustard, and possibly blood. The white crowd surrounds them, taunting them, waiting for one of them to give them an excuse for a fight. Outside the frame, there are others at the counter under considerably more duress. The image oozes with gravitas, tension, and sadness.

O’Brien’s narrative takes us through the lives of those involved—on both sides of the issue—and how their environment and attitudes led them to the sit-in. The famed civil rights lawyer Medgar Evers, who became the NAACP field secretary for Mississippi, plays a pivotal role. From the formation of early grassroots movements to his assassination just 38 days after the sit-in, his leadership set the tone for the issue. It is also interesting to see that O’Brien also includes perspectives of policemen on duty in Jackson during the time.

What struck me most was the pure animosity that many in the South had towards integration. While I find it hard to fathom, there are still pockets on the planet where one group of people considers another group of people unworthy of basic respect, fairness, and rights. O’Brien’s book is both riveting and shameful, which is understandably the only way a book about the civil rights movement can be. I enjoyed this one, but I’m not in a hurry to read about this era again. If you’re a student of civil rights or political science, then pick this one up. ( )