Customer Reviews

Aaron Henry: The Fire Ever Burning (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Fire Ever Burning" by Aaron Henry and Constance Curry is an important contribution about the Civil Rights Movement. Henry was loved by his friends and was considered to be astute, brave and caring. As was often typical of the times, he was accused of some rotten stuff. How else do you stop people from obtaining their rights? Constance Curry, who wrote this book from Henry's papers, lived the Civil Rights Movement and was actively involved in the Mississippi Delta where Henry lived. She is a careful researcher and writes from the heart. Like "Silver Rights" by Curry, about school integration in the Delta, this book is another good read and I highly recommend it.

The Fire Ever Burning is definitely a book anyone interested in the Civil Rights movement should read. Henry helped secure the headstart program for Mississippi and risked his life so that all Mississippians could enjoy the rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Although his name is not as recognizable as Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and other civil rights icons, his role in the movement was just as important. If you are a student of the Civil Rights movement or just interested in the movement itself, add this book to your reading list.

I came to know Aaron Henry when he was elected to serve in the Mississippi House in 1980. Initially I thought he was a doddering relic, yet pleasant enough, who tended to pontificate. He was in over his head and didn't really seem to have much interest in the legislative process and, as a result, was not highly regarded by his peers. He had a long history of arrests in city parks in the middle of the night, if you catch my drift. He made advances toward me and several other individuals--it was pathetic. Aaron Henry is indicative of the rotten core of the civil rights movement and liberal politicians in general--you don't have to look far for this. He ranks up there with Al Lowenstein and Bill Clinton. I believe this book is self serving and out of synch with reality.