Diane McWhorter

Detailed but dry events spanning twenty or so years of Birmingham history around the early Sixties leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. McWhorter's father was apparently involved with Ku Klux Klan and perhaps with the bombing which she talks about. It's horrifying that the local and state police, courts and government collaborated with the Klan. It was disappointing in that it didn't explain why people were so invested in racism.

Traces and maps my time in Ensley, Alabama, when cast out by my family of origin...

This book ticks off certain local folks (I live in Birmingham) but not for any good reason that I can see. McWhorter weaves the history of her family into that of the city, in order to give a glimpse of how white residents managed to shelter themselves for quite some time from the revolution taking place downtown. Fred Shuttlesworth, founder of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, emerges as the principal hero of the movement.