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The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family

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Full disclosure. Sheryll is a colleague of mine whose office is two doors away. I have known her since she started teaching and have nothing but the highest regard for her, both personally and professionally.

That said, Sheryll has written an extraordinary book. At one level, it is the story of four generations of privileged black professionals who have been deeply committed to to racial and social justice, particularly for blacks in the Deep South whose struggles for such justice she describes through her family's efforts in politics, education and professional life. She traces the history of the black struggle for equality from Reconstruction to the present day, using family stories as the focal point for political events. Her family knew the leaders in every generation and they appear both as historical figures and real people as the history unfolds.

If that were all that the book was about, it would be worth reading. But it is very much more. it is a story of her family with all its strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, laughter and tears. Sheryll is fortunate that her family, to a substantial extent, kept the papers, photographs and memorabilia from generation to generation and, in this generation, the memorabilia now include the oral histories that Sheryll was able to take from her relatives while they (or, in the case of her father, are) alive. Not all of us are lucky enough to have those resources available nor, if we are, the skill to make them come alive.

Sheryll's family is one that believed, and still believes, that with privilege goes the responsibility to improve the lives of those who do not share that privilege, no matter what the social and financial costs may be. And, as she makes clear, costs there are that members of the family must bear, each in their own fashion. Her father is a fascinating and complex man with whom Sheryll has had a deeply loving and complex relationship. She does not avoid confronting both the love and the anger she felt over the years. Indeed, it is the deeply personal nature of her writing about her family that is the most moving part of the book.

Those who love Faulkner, about whose South Sheryll is writing, or Wallace Stegner as he traces family history through Angle of Repose, will respond immediately and viscerally to this book. Everyone else will be drawn in by Sheryll's ability to integrate history, politics, justice, family and feeling. Read it!

The Agitator's Daughter is a great book. Sheryl's straightforwardness about her family allows the reader to actually experience the struggles and triumphs' of Four generations of Cashin's. The family research is outstanding. The book allows you to flow into the life of a privileged upper class Family, as the author examines her families saga as African American officeholders, doctors, lawyers, etc. The writers efforts to share her families dedication to bring about change in the south; their work ethics and the significant contributions made by this family illuminate the saying "to much is given, much is required." This memoir is an excellent book, I've referred it to several book clubs!

Professor Cashin's book is a stunning achievement-moving, historically relevant and inspirational, the more so because she tells her family's story with honesty, warts and all.

The measure of this book, and any good book is the level of intellectual stimulation in engenders in the reader. The measure of an outstanding book is the level of intellectual stimulation it engenders in the reader and the emotional tingle generated by sensitive treatment of subject matter and the deployment of appropriate language. This combination induces self-searching in the reader. Having completed it yesterday, my mind remains in a state of excitation. My emotions continue to tingle. I am inspired once again to feel that any change, anything, remains possible, which is something marvellous to experience two years short of fifty, idealism long sandpapered away by life.

Professor Cashin's father, for whom she plainly bears a complex and profound love, and whom she plainly and justifiably holds in so high regard, must now know his daughter has, in her own poignant and sensitive way, made a telling contribution to the cause to which he dedicated his life. Her mother, whose influence over Professor Cashin was plainly as great as her father's must be looking down upon her daughter and smiling in quiet contentment.

David Myers

Port of Spain

Trinidad and Tobago

Full disclosure: I was a former student of author Sherryl Cashin (former being the key word here--there's no incentive for me to provide anything but a truthful review). In the classroom we could pick up on her dedication to providing high quality instruction and issues of equality. Even these traits offered little clue of the illustrious family line described in her new book, The Agitator's Daughter. The book takes a honest and emotionally open look into the accomplishments, motivations, and struggles of an African-American family that has been politically prominent for several generations. The Agitator's Daughter will likely cause all who read it to reflect on their own "inheritance." While I am not smart enough to identify genius, Cashin make masterful connections between her lineage and the progress of both African-American rights and relationships between individuals of various socioeconomic backgrounds generally.

Let's face it--many people will receive nary a nickel of financial inheritance from their parents. In this memoir Cashin reflects on the priceless gifts children and adults receive from their parents, loved ones or if that term doesn't apply, relatives. This legacy includes an abundance of knowledge about their family's past and the strength and will to persevere despite obstacles placed in their path, no matter what their background may be. These are invaluable lessons that echo throughout life. Cashin shows how this legacy makes it possible for individuals to instill within themselves self reliance, work ethic, and the need to help others and/or engage in formalized service activities, whether overtly or covertly.

Cashin reveals her feelings towards her inheritance in a very candid manner by telling her intriguing family story. The family history lovingly passed to her from her father served as a motivating factor for writing this family memoir. Cashin notes that "[a] confident man tends to talk about himself, and Daddy is more confident than most." She greatly benefited from her father's talkativeness and passes the knowledge given to her by her father on through her memoir. The memoir also synthesizes information from archives research, family documents, and an ancestry website.

Cashin first traces her family line through five generations. She begins with the biracial union of an Irish slaveowner and "mulatto" slave. The author's great-grandfather Herschel Cashin was one of the couple's seven children. He eventually became one of Alabama's first Black lawyers and a proponent of political rights for African-Americans. Herschel Cashin played a substantial role in Reconstruction gains for African-American progress and equality. He used the law and legislation to obtain voting rights for Blacks, and worked with other trailblazers such as Booker T. Washington, one instance in the book showing that "a disempowered people will always have disagreements about how to proceed."

As another book reviewer stated, to whom much is given, much is required. Some individuals who have much and recognize the truth in this statement reach out to loved ones, close friends, and individuals in their immediate community to contribute. The agitator in the memoir , "Daddy" to Cashin and "John Logan" to readers, felt compelled to reach out to disadvantaged individuals generally and advocate for equal rights. John Logan was a dentist by trade.

John Logan corralled and collaborated with multiracial groups of individuals of varying socioeconomic means to work towards their common goal of equal rights for all. He became a full-fledged activist after completing his graduate studies and traveling to Europe. In Europe, John Logan's "historical consciousness deepened with the humanitarian treatment he received." John Logan was motivated by his grandfather Herschel Cashin's civil rights work and empathy for individuals of lesser means. The agitator sacrificed greatly in battling racial inequality. John Logan's work and the work of other pioneers paved the way for an African-American (now President Elect who also helped others and now has the opportunity to effect change on a massive scale)and a woman to head the U.S. presidential ticket.

Cashin explores the depths to which the agitator would go in following in his great-grandfather's footsteps and how her family was affected with anecdotes and ample research. It takes an agitator to address the status quo. John Logan overcame barriers based on race through strategic action. The agitator was a wealthy man who poured his heart and fortune into his political causes and friendships. He experienced devastating results that significantly affected Cashin's entire immediate family. His monetary generosity particularly impacted the family.

Cashin also offers little nuggets of knowledge relied on by African-Americans during less racially harmonious times. Cashin includes the experiences of others growing up in a time where the nation struggled with inequality and her experiences growing up as a "first" and "only." These experiences made it possible for children today of all stripes to grow up in welcoming environments and attend schools without encountering bigotry where teachers encouraged all students.

This memoir is perfect for individuals or groups that want a book that tells an engaging personal family story where themes affecting all of our lives such as history, politics, race relations, internal struggle, socioeconomic class are linked to introspection and progress. Cashin forthrightly discusses her journey in wrestling with her legacy. The Agitator's Daughter provides invaluable insight and serves as inspiration to others to discover and grow their own "inheritance."

The Agitator's Daughter by Sheryll Cashin is a wonderful book exposing a personal look at one family's significant contribution to African American voting power in the United States. The impact this family had on the civil rights movement went beyond its base in the Birmingham Alabama region and highlights how dedication and stamina can bring about change even if at personal costs. This book ought to be required reading for any student of American history and the author commended for her diligence in putting together a well written and thoughtful American memoir.The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family

Having known the author's family in the late 60's, I was intrigued by her title and wondered if her book would honestly depict the times and her family's involvement in the civil rights movement. I so pleasantly found her writing to be direct, honest, detailed and credible. The depth of her research into the Cashin family, juxtaposing fact with myth, creates a rich fabric that is woven with the story of an extraordinary family. In the interest of full disclosure, I was present at some of the events detailed in the book. Ms. Cashin's prose brought back so many memories and crystalized others. This book gives the reader an inside view of politics in Alabama in the late 60's and early 70's as blacks came to the voting booth to exercise their long denied and deferred rights. I highly recommmend this read!

The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family

I couldn't get enough of the stories that Sheryll Cashin strung together in "The Agitator's Daughter." It was an adventure experiencing the lives of her family, the Cashins, an African American family who, over several generations, embodied in their unwavering committment to "freedom and justice for all" a never-say-die spirit that has "Yes We Can" at its very core.

This is a history lesson for the ages. It begins in the days of slavery when Lucinda Bowdre, a woman of color and an Irishman, John Cashin, brought seven children in the world.

From there the reader is taken on a journey through the Cashin's lives beyond slavery through Reconstruction, on to the days of Jim Crow, past the civil rights era up to the political struggles that exist in our world today.

The Cashins are of light skin, some of them able to pass for white, but they have made black political enfranchisement their reasons for living, their passion. Agitating for social justice is like breathing air to them. Helping black people rise in dignity out of poverty is in their DNA.

Sheryll Cashin gets so much of the family lore from her father, Dr. John Cashin, Jr. She brings to life his renditions of marching among the violence that erupted on the bridge leg of the Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights. She learns from him how he helped Martin Luther King pursue his dream; how he founded the National Democratic Party of Alabama to counter George Wallace's Dixiecrats; how he got blacks elected to a multitude of offices in Alabama; how he campaigned for governor among people who wished him dead; how if it had anything to do with Civil Rights the Cashin family pretty much had it covered.

Oh, there are so many beautiful and indelible images in this story. One, in particular, keeps coming to mind. I see Ms. Cashin's mom and dad along with Don and Myrna Copeland, a white couple with whom they had marched and organized in Alabama and other southern states, showing up at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville with four front-row-center seats. This was in 1963 when black performers and black people out on the town weren't "expected or allowed" - especially not arriving in a Rolls Royce wearing an evening gown and white tie and tails with Don looking sharp in a snappy chauffeur's uniform and Myrna dressed as a maid. Eyes must have peered out at them like Mr. Magoo's. Would white servants be refused? No. And neither were the Cashins. They all strode in just as proud as they could be. "Another lily-white realm had been conquered through bloodless audacity." To use the vernacular of the day: That is how they rolled.

Activists say "The victory, if there is one, is often in the mere act of trying." And, along these lines, Sheryll Cashin illustrates ever so eloquently through her stories that there's very little that the Cashins haven't tried in their efforts to make their people free.

For anyone who enjoys a good old fashion story of good winning over evil, of justice winning over narrow mindedness, of love winning over hate, "The Agitator's Daughter" is the book to read.