Jamie McGhee – författare

After a speech at UMass Amherst on February 28, 1984, James Baldwin was asked by a student: ""You said that the liberal façade and being a liberal is not enough. Well, what is? What is necessary?"" Baldwin responded, ""Commitment. That is what is necessary. You mean it or you don't.""

Taking up that challenge and drawing from Baldwin's fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and interviews, You Mean It or You Don't will spur today's progressives from conviction to action. It is not enough, authors Hollowell and McGhee urge us, to hold progressive views on racial justice, LGBTQ+ identity, and economic inequality. True and lasting change demands a response to Baldwin's radical challenge for moral commitment. Called to move from dreams of justice to living it out in communities, churches, and neighborhoods, we can show that we truly mean it.

Welcome to life with James Baldwin. It is raw and challenging, inspired and embodied, passionate and fully awake.

What challenges did the United States face after the American Civil War? Discover it with this book for young readers.

After four long years, the Civil War finally came to an end. But there was still a lot of work to be done. Most of the South had been destroyed and would need to be rebuilt. Almost four million people who had lived in bondage were now free and would need help in starting new lives. Just as important, the people who had found themselves on opposite sides in the conflict would need to make peace with one another. Reconstruction was an attempt to rebuild the United States, and it would not be easy. Learn about the triumphs—and tragedies—that marked the era.

ABOUT THIS SERIES:

The Civil War took place in America between April 1861 and April 1865. During the four-year struggle between the North and the South, approximately 10,000 battles were fought on land and sea, leaving 620,000 dead. As a result of the war, more than three million enslaved people gained their freedom. The four books in the “Exploring the Civil War” series examine the war’s key people, places, and events, and its causes and consequences, making them the perfect tools to introduce children to one of the defining events in American history.