Customer Reviews

Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

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This little memoir by a highly educated black woman who lived in Montgomery before, during and after the boycott stands like a monument in my eyes. A mountain-top view where the reader will observe more slow-moving colors than the eye can understand, especially for someone like me who wasn't there. Yet the panorama is available in detail, more than you get when you read about Rosa Parks and the general information low-lighted in most history books. To name just two of the many individuals from her chronicle, Ms. Robinson details the ironic arrest of 15-year old Claudette Colvin who was the real Rosa Parks, and the influence of Mr. E.D. Nixon, a respected civic leader who was imprisoned despite his courteous connections with all highly-functioning organizations in Montgomery. Of course, the plodding, painfully slow struggle that was galvanized finally by Martin Luther King, Jr. is the real story. A story this memoir tells for a person interested in the close-up side of life--not glossed-over, sensationalized or generalized--but told intelligently. It is a book that bears emotional intensity and wisdom. I highly recommend it.

This is a great first-hand account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It gives great insight on the emotions of the boycotters, and the determination that kept them going. The book is a little slow at times, but it's well worth it in the end. It really shows the intricate details that made the boycott successful.

Robinson's book is truly a memoir, and I find this to be both a strength and a weakness. It gives the book strength because it is a complete personal account. Every piece of information is direct from not only a first hand observer, but moreover a participant. However it weakens the book because at points too much information was detailed. Especially information about already well documented events.