A stirring visual tribute to the Civil Rights Movement and the long and difficult battle for racial equality captures in more than 150 extraordinary photographs the leaders and events of the era, with portraits of Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin, Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many other activists, both famous and unknown, who took part in the struggle. 75,000 first printing.
This impressive survey of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement sounds a triumphant note, and pays tribute to larger-than-life activists as well as everyday heroes. African Americans are shown waiting for service at "whites only" restaurants, while white nuns are photographed as they join hands and support Martin Luther King. Bob Adelman could have made his name on the strength of celebrity portraiture alone, as shown by his photographs of Duke Ellington, James Baldwin, and Dionne Warwick. Ralph Ellison wrote that "Adelman has moved beyond the familiar clichés of most documentary photography into that rare sphere wherein technical ability and social vision combine to create a work of art."
Stirring and triumphant photographs evoke the heady days of the Civil Rights' Movement when America faced its worst nightmare and the Dream won. Fuelled by the powerful imagery in "Mine Eyes Have Seen", we take a rollercoaster ride, peering through the eyes of "LIFE" photographer Bob Adelman as America struggles. We are both seared and uplifted by unforgettable photographs of America's dramatic journey through its still aching racial conflicts. Incredibly, only a generation ago, public signs shamefully separated people according to their skin colour. Selfless activists from all walks of life rallied under inspired leaders to dismantle those last vestiges of slavery.Picture by picture, we see racial barriers fall confronted with moral outrage and public scrutiny. In some of the most riveting images we are reminded that racism was not restricted to one section of the nation. Attuned to the vitality and expressiveness of African American culture, we see evocative and penetrating portraits of artists and writers as diverse as the Quilters of Gees Bend, Ralph Ellison, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin, and Miles Davis. Together with the Black Church, the extraordinary creativity of artists and ordinary folk were formidable resources from which the Movement drew its strength and its inventiveness. Concluding on a note of celebration, the photographs reveal ever-increasing signs of racial reconciliation.
