Foreword

You are about to embark on a wonderful journey, a journey into our collective identity as an American people. That is why I have always loved history, because it is through the study of our past that we discover who we are today as a nation. And the more you explore the American experience, the more you realize that the cry for freedom has inspired some of the greatest events of our history.

The Civil Rights Movement is just that kind of American story. We were a congregation of “ordinary” men and women who had an extraordinary vision. Some of us had examined our nation’s philosophy simply and eloquently described in the Constitution, but most of us just answered a whisper deep in our souls that something was amiss in America. We faced the truth that generations of racial prejudice, segregation, and discrimination were not fair; they were not right, they were not just. And it was that deep urging for liberation that ignited our courage to act. 

We determined to make this nation live up to its creed of “freedom and justice for all.” And we found a way to get in the way. We found a way, through nonviolent protest, to dramatize our issues. We held up a mirror to America so it could see the true face of its democracy. That revelation brought change. It transformed the landscape of this nation. It also shook the spirits of people around the globe who modeled their own freedom movements on the achievements of these “ordinary,” inspired Americans of the Civil Rights Movement.

History expresses who we are, but it also reveals who we must become. The ideals of this nation are noble and great.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”   Declaration of Independence, 1776

But they are yet to be fully realized. Our past calls us to awaken to our future, to answer the soul’s eternal quest for liberation. Call it the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement or the spirit of history. We must recapture this spirit. As a nation and as a people, we must make this spirit part of our thoughts, our actions, and our lives.

All of us—Black, White, Latino, Asian, and Native American—must pull together for the common good. This is our American mission. This is our charge, to build what I call the Beloved Community, a nation at peace with itself, one nation, one people, one house, and one family. This is, above all, the greatest lesson of the Civil Rights Movement, that our work is not done until our collective dreams of freedom, equality, and justice are made real for every life in this country. Let the stories of these “ordinary” Americans inspire your own dreams. Let the history of this Movement help lead you to your passion. Let it help you find your voice, your way. And then go out and do something great for humanity.