Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Still Marching On: a young woman's fight for social justice

Still Marching On by Lynda Stephenson is the story of a young college girl at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She must fight against the injustice of the Jim Crow laws and as well as social practices which could keep her from following her dreams.


Frankilee Baxter is a young white college student at Athena College where her roommate, Eleanor, is African American. Together, they join the Civil Rights Movement when racial tensions are very explosive. Frankilee is the type of girl who likes to shock people and study their reactions. She begins to conduct social experiments and writing about her experiences. She is able to sell a few of her stories to the New York Times. She joins sit-ins at a local department store who refused to serve African Americans. She joins Freedom Rides which leads to time in jail. While she fights for social change, she must deal with the everyday issues at home. Her mom is sick. Her dad is having trouble with the bank. Her aunt is trying to bully everyone to follow her plan for the grandfather’s ranch land. And she falls in love with Calvin Morris, a law student who seeks the social change she does. Will Frankilee succeed in her dreams of journalism? Will she be able to forge the social change she seeks to see in the world? Will her dream of marrying Calvin come true?


I enjoyed Still Marching On. It is an interesting book with a passionate retelling of the Civil Rights Movement from a participant who seems so unlikely. The details the author put into the events are graphic but very real. You shiver as you know that person suffered injustices and cruelties as they fought for civil rights. Frankilee is passionate, rash, impulsive and ready to take on the social injustices. The debates between Frankilee and those on the other side and the opinions expressed are dealt with realistically. I highly recommend Still Marching On.

Still Marching On
in paperback for $27.95

and on the Kindle or the Nook for $6.99

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