Silver Rights

The true story of a family's fight for their educational future in "a sure-to-be-classic account of 1960s desegregation" (Los Angeles Times). With an Introduction by New York Times–bestselling author Marian Wright Edelman "The most important thing we can give our children is an education." —Mae Bertha Carter In 1965, the Carters, an African American sharecropping family with thirteen children, took public officials at their word when they were offered "Freedom of Choice" to send their children to any school they wished, and so began their unforeseen struggle to desegregate the schools of Sunflower County, Mississippi. In this true account from the front lines of the civil rights movement, four generations of the Carter family speak to author and civil rights activist Constance Curry, who lived this story alongside the family—a story of clear-eyed determination, extraordinary grit, and sweet triumph. "Silver Rights is pure gold . . . Connie Curry shines a light on the civil rights movement's unknown makers . . . A must-read." —Julian Bond "Dignity . . . is a quality displayed in abundance by the heroes of this tale . . . Mae Bertha cut a path for her children. Now it is their turn, and their children's turn." —New York Times "The book has an immediacy, intimacy and emotional truth that history rarely reveals. It also unfolds with a simplicity of words and facts that make the Carters' courage, faith and love a reality any reader can share." —Smithsonian A Literary Guild Selection