{"product_id":"a-protest-history-of-the-united-states-isbn-9780807022689","title":"A Protest History of the United States","description":"\u003cb\u003eExploring 500 years of protest and resistance in US history—and what the unsung heroes of social movements past can teach us about navigating our chaotic world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this timely new book in Beacon’s successful \u003ci\u003eReVisioning History\u003c\/i\u003e series, professor Gloria Browne-Marshall delves into the history of protest movements and rebellion in the United States. Beginning with Indigenous peoples’ resistance to European colonization and continuing through to today’s climate change demonstrations, Browne-Marshall expands how to think about protest through sharing select historical moments and revealing the role of key players involved in those efforts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing upon legal documents, archival material, government documents and secondary sources, \u003ci\u003eA Protest History of the United States \u003c\/i\u003egives voice to those who pushed back against the mistreatment of others, themselves, and in some instances planet Earth. Browne-Marshall highlights stories of individuals from all walks of life, backgrounds, and time periods who helped bring strong attention to their causes. Those examples of protest include those of Wahunsenacock, more commonly known to history as Chief Powhatan, who took on English invaders in pre-colonial America in 1607; legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's refusal to fight in Vietnam and appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court; and David Buckel, LGBTQ+ rights lawyer and environmental activist who protested against fossil fuels by committing self-immolation in 2018.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRegardless of whether these protests accomplished their end goals, Browne-Marshall reminds us that not only is dissent meaningful and impactful but is an essential tool for eliciting long lasting change.\u003ci\u003eAuthor’s Note\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003eOur Conflicted Protest History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER ONE\u003cbr\u003eIndigenous Resistance for Land, Life, and Culture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER TWO\u003cbr\u003eWhat to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER THREE\u003cbr\u003eLabor Rights and Union Strikes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER FOUR\u003cbr\u003eAnti-war Marches and Conscientious Objectors\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER FIVE\u003cbr\u003eRebellions Behind Our Golden Door\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER SIX\u003cbr\u003eHer Body. Her Ballot.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER SEVEN\u003cbr\u003eProtesting Violent Policing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER EIGHT\u003cbr\u003eContesting Climate Denial and Environmental Racism\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/i\u003e“This is a must-read for those who seeks facts and the story regarding the history of protests in this place called America.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eOur Time Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Browne-Marshall argues that a nation is made better when the people demand more of it, and her book offers both a history of and a guide for such protest.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Attentive to historical records, memoir, environmentalism, and the arts, legal scholar Gloria Browne-Marshall provides fervent affirmation of the many different groups, causes, and methods that comprise the protest tradition from our nation’s founding to today’s pursuit of a more perfect union.”\u003cbr\u003e—Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“To Gloria Browne-Marshall, protest is primal and a prism through which she has exhaustively examined its resonance in American history. Her broad and insightful discussion of protest, from its most violent expression to the mere thrusting of one’s fist in the air, shows how it has been persistently at the core of the nation’s existence. She thoughtfully demonstrates that protest is essential to the origins of the US, an unbroken thread from the Powhatan to George Floyd.”\u003cbr\u003e—Herb Boyd, American Book Award recipient and author of \u003ci\u003eBlack Detroit: A People’s History of Self-Determination\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We don’t often read history seeking hope, but in Gloria Browne-Marshall’s \u003ci\u003eA Protest History of the United States\u003c\/i\u003e, we find it in every exquisitely written chapter. Browne-Marshall’s extraordinary book chronicles the marginalized American heroes who, through overt and covert acts of rebellion, protested systemic injustice, cruelty, and greed. Through careful research, attentive examination, and innovative vision, Browne-Marshall has uncovered a national legacy of resistance and resilience we can believe in.”\u003cbr\u003e—Erika Krouse, author of \u003ci\u003eTell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“‘Workers are the backbone of every nation’ is the important conclusion learned from Browne-Marshall’s insightful chapter about labor unions and how protesting workers have fought back after being denied decent job conditions and their right to organize unions. Still, as \u003ci\u003eA Protest History of the United States\u003c\/i\u003e shows, many companies don’t get it: workers never give up!”\u003cbr\u003e—Stefan Löfven, former prime minister of Sweden and former president of the Swedish Industrial and Metal Workers Union\u003cb\u003eGloria J. Browne-Marshall\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer, an educator, a legal advocate, and a playwright. She is a professor of Constitutional Law and Africana Studies at John Jay College (CUNY), was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. She won the 2024 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award. Her books include \u003ci\u003eShe Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Voting Rights War\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eRace, Law, and American Society\u003c\/i\u003e.Protest matters. Protests have led to changes in political will and\u003cbr\u003ewinds. One person chooses to courageously defy, question, or demand\u003cbr\u003echange from the powerful in relative anonymity where masses of\u003cbr\u003epeople, with song and soulful sharing, crowds of people are moved to\u003cbr\u003estand shoulder to shoulder, chanting in unison, collectively presenting\u003cbr\u003etheir grievances against injustices by law or tradition. Despite any\u003cbr\u003epossible consequences, they all want to make a difference. Protest, to\u003cbr\u003eme, is spiritual.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy first protest outside of my family was in third grade. I marched\u003cbr\u003ethrough the streets with classmates, carrying signs demanding that the\u003cbr\u003eadults vote to pass a tax levy to finance public school renovations. We\u003cbr\u003elaughed, sang a protest song I had written, and watched the sun set\u003cbr\u003efeeling ourselves champions of a cause we believed all adults would be\u003cbr\u003efoolish to ignore. The measure failed miserably. Some White parents\u003cbr\u003ehad started their abandonment of the city’s public schools in the wake\u003cbr\u003eof racial desegregation. Learning in integrated classrooms, living in\u003cbr\u003emixed neighborhoods, perhaps having a person of color in leadership\u003cbr\u003ewho made decisions affecting their lives was anathema. They crept\u003cbr\u003eaway into the suburbs to create secluded White havens, taking their\u003cbr\u003echildren and a flawed notion of democracy with them. Now their\u003cbr\u003echildren and grandchildren have come to the cities as “urban settlers”\u003cbr\u003eestranged from or unaware of the history of colonial settlers, redlining,\u003cbr\u003ebusing, or environmental racism. I am writing this book because\u003cbr\u003eactivists are soldiers for social justice, deserving of recognition for\u003cbr\u003etheir service and sacrifice, perhaps even via a special day or designated\u003cbr\u003ecemetery. Far too many community organizers become elderly\u003cbr\u003ewithout a pension, pass away without enough money for a casket,\u003cbr\u003ewith lives shortened by constant self-deprivation, giving their time to\u003cbr\u003ethe cause of others instead of to themselves or their families. Fannie\u003cbr\u003eLou Hamer was a Mississippi sharecropper, forced out of her home,\u003cbr\u003eclothes thrown out on a dirt road because she had registered to vote.\u003cbr\u003eAs a voting activist, she was arrested then beaten after leading other\u003cbr\u003eAfrican Americans in Mississippi to the polls. Employers refused to\u003cbr\u003ehire her, and death threats were constant, as were money worries and\u003cbr\u003estress. I am writing this book for her and others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Protest History of the United States \u003c\/i\u003eis an interdisciplinary telling\u003cbr\u003eof the obstacles, protests, and protesters that braids together law,\u003cbr\u003ememoir, events, and interviews into an account of centuries of history.\u003cbr\u003eThis book is for you, the reader, who may remember particular protesters\u003cbr\u003eand participated in activism yourself, in one form or another.\u003cbr\u003eAs you read this book, I urge you to think about generations of your\u003cbr\u003efamily and the kinds of protest and resistance they engaged in without\u003cbr\u003erealizing it. Our achievements speak to their tenacity. This book is important\u003cbr\u003eto me because I, like each generation of my family, have been\u003cbr\u003eDavids facing the Goliaths of slavery, racism, sexism, and classism, and\u003cbr\u003ehave done so with tenacity, intelligence, faith, and a well-aimed rock.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProtest is an investment. My African American high school music\u003cbr\u003eteacher, Mrs. Baskins, tried to explain the debt we all owe to the next\u003cbr\u003egeneration. I apologize on behalf of a raucous concert choir class\u003cbr\u003ethat failed to embrace the songs of freedom, struggle, and resistance.\u003cbr\u003eOnly later did I realize those songs contained history, life skills, and\u003cbr\u003eprotest. She, like me, had been integrated into the White school across\u003cbr\u003etown. Only as a working adult did I understand the racial and gender\u003cbr\u003echallenges she must have faced and how she used “Black Excellence”\u003cbr\u003eas protest. My teachers gave me the gift of self-expression.\u003cbr\u003eI am a playwright and writer. Music theater song dance, film, sculpture,\u003cbr\u003eand drawing can all be protest. Art has long been a part of activism.\u003cbr\u003eProtests can be on canvases or billboards; sung in deep-throated\u003cbr\u003ejazz or opera; danced in ballet, tap, or modern; ignited in theaters\u003cbr\u003eand in the streets. Do something! In art or academia, take a knee or\u003cbr\u003ewalk the picket line, whether lawyer or librarian, be the first or refuse\u003cbr\u003eto be last but recognize a responsibility to keep progress moving. An\u003cbr\u003einvestment of sweat and blood allowed me the time to write and you\u003cbr\u003ethe time to read this book. It is humbling to realize so many made\u003cbr\u003esacrifices without ever knowing our names.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProgress comes from public pressure creating equality under law,\u003cbr\u003ebecause for most of this nation’s history the Rule of Law was a grand\u003cbr\u003eidea whereby every person was equal under law. However, historically,\u003cbr\u003ethe “role of law” is to control the labor class, people of color,\u003cbr\u003ewomen, the poor, immigrants, the marginalized, and their allies until a\u003cbr\u003ecritical mass of people rise up and convince stakeholders, influencers,\u003cbr\u003eattorneys, and politicians to join their fray. For most, there is little\u003cbr\u003econnection between the freedoms they enjoy and the protests needed\u003cbr\u003eto make these rights a reality. For example, the eight-hour work week\u003cbr\u003ewas not readily handed to workers; lives were lost to achieve it. The\u003cbr\u003eUS Constitution may provide the right on paper, but I was able enter\u003cbr\u003ethe once segregated main library in Kansas City, Missouri, because of\u003cbr\u003eprotests against discrimination. A source of pleasure for me during hot\u003cbr\u003eMidwestern summers was taking the bus downtown and nurturing\u003cbr\u003emy curiosity and love of books at the library or walking to the local\u003cbr\u003emuseums that would have turned me away a generation before.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProtest is primal. This book expands protest and resistance to\u003cbr\u003einclude the precisely planned labor protests by the mill girls in the\u003cbr\u003enineteenth century, the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,\u003cbr\u003ethe 1975 Chinatown protests in New York City, and the Women’s\u003cbr\u003eMarch of 2017. Protest includes the spontaneity of slave uprisings,\u003cbr\u003eWest Virginia coal mine gunfights, anti-war marches, and urban rebellions.\u003cbr\u003eProtest can be the act of doing one small thing: refusing to\u003cbr\u003emove, standing up or staying seated, speaking up or remaining silent\u003cbr\u003ewith one’s fist in the air, signing a petition or taking a knee, waging a\u003cbr\u003esit-in or a boycott. Protest can mean resistance or surviving horrendous\u003cbr\u003ewrongs. This book is an extension of my research, writing, and\u003cbr\u003espeaking on protest, law, and violence in colonial America and the\u003cbr\u003eUnited States from 1607 to present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIndigenous peoples studied the colonial statutes and treaty laws,\u003cbr\u003eas did some fugitives from slavery, newly arrived immigrant workers,\u003cbr\u003ewomen seeking the vote, and those not formally educated learned to\u003cbr\u003ebend the power of law to their needs. The rule of law is an American\u003cbr\u003eideal, that everyone is equal under law. For much of this nation’s history,\u003cbr\u003ethe role of law has been to oppress and restrict people of color,\u003cbr\u003ewomen, the poor, and immigrants, as well as queer and disabled people\u003cbr\u003eand their allies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnfair laws are usually at the heart of protests, triggering demonstrations,\u003cbr\u003ecivil disobedience, strikes, rallies, and sometimes armed\u003cbr\u003ecombat. Wealthy people have learned how to command the necessary\u003cbr\u003elaws and politicians to protect their positions and business interests.\u003cbr\u003eBut the unified power of the people is a force strong enough to battle\u003cbr\u003etycoons, slaveholders, industrialists, magnates, billionaires, and the\u003cbr\u003eOne Percenters, and this book shows the laws and social conditions\u003cbr\u003econfronting the common person before they gather with others and\u003cbr\u003echannel rage, frustration, and desperation into strategy and action.\u003cbr\u003e“Your silence will not protect you.” Audre Lorde’s words sing\u003cbr\u003ewith a burning truth. Silent good people allow bad things to happen\u003cbr\u003eas they try to wait out the controversy—until it comes for them.\u003cbr\u003eWomen in human resources offices across the nation know that female\u003cbr\u003eemployees earn less for the same job, but they remain silent. Police\u003cbr\u003eofficers know that fellow cops spew racism and assault civilians, but\u003cbr\u003ethey say nothing. Bank employees watch qualified lenders be denied\u003cbr\u003eloans or get hit with higher interest rates and poor terms, and they\u003cbr\u003eonly complain privately. Realtors quietly watch prospective tenants\u003cbr\u003eand homebuyers get steered to marginalized communities. Courage is\u003cbr\u003ebeing afraid but acting anyway. Protests need not be mass meetings,\u003cbr\u003ebull horns, and big painted signs. That is fine and necessary. However,\u003cbr\u003esometimes activism means one just needs to act.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have stood in the cold, marched in the heat, and been drenched\u003cbr\u003ein the rain for issues concerning African American voting rights, women’s\u003cbr\u003epro-choice rights, police-involved civilian deaths, book banning,\u003cbr\u003ehousing rights, and gun violence. I have marched sometimes and\u003cbr\u003ewritten letters to the editor other times, filed complaints, boycotted\u003cbr\u003estores, spoken up, remained vigilant, donated funds, stopped donating\u003cbr\u003efunds, joined a group, quit a group, signed petitions, or simply avoided\u003cbr\u003ebusinesses that offer second-class service, and you can do so as well.\u003cbr\u003e“Do not spend money in places where respect is not served” remains\u003cbr\u003emy motto. This can be a personal everyday act of protest. Use your\u003cbr\u003epower within your sphere of influence to start a ripple effect that\u003cbr\u003ebrings social change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Ancestors gave their livelihoods, and some their very lives,\u003cbr\u003ewithout ever knowing our names. Protesters, as warriors, are marching\u003cbr\u003eto a different drummer and are drawn to a light just beyond the horizon, some pushing forward despite personal fears and possible professional suicide. Courage is a superpower. Rest in power, ancestral\u003cbr\u003eprotest leaders, rabble-rousers, conscience raisers, advocates of\u003cbr\u003echange, martyrs for equal rights, and conscientious objectors who built\u003cbr\u003ethe freedoms about which this conflicted country boasts and blindly\u003cbr\u003eenjoys. For those who fought the good fight, finished the race, and\u003cbr\u003ekept the faith, thank you for your service.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48232895250661,"sku":"NP9780807022689","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807022689.jpg?v=1767720738","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/a-protest-history-of-the-united-states-isbn-9780807022689","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}