About the Book

I can come pretty close to pinpointing the moment I had the idea for this book.  It came shortly after the March 2021 publication of  It’s in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior, the posthumous memoir of civil rights icon, Dr. C.T. Vivian.  I’d had the privilege of collaborating on the book, and in the course of my involvement had become good friends with one of Dr. Vivian’s daughters. Denise Morse.  

The light bulb went off after Denise sent me a copy of a sermon her father had given. Dr. Vivian, whom Martin Luther King Jr. called, "the greatest preacher ever to live,” had typed. But on several pages of the sermon, he had written in hand his mantra, “It’s in the action.”  The good doctor had wanted to remind himself to stress to his audience that justice and equality will never be achieved if all we do is wring our hands or complain.  We must act.     

In July, I acted, sending a memo to my publisher Suzanne La Rosa that read in part:

I would interview people—well known and little known, of all ages, races, and backgrounds—and record their stories of the moment they realized, as C.T. always said, “It’s in the action” and became involved in the social justice movement…. 

I’m interested in learning and conveying: What specific event/experience or series of events/experiences moved these individuals to get involved in social justice activism?  So, in these interviews I’d ask, among other things, what their life was like before they got involved; what moved them to take action; how they weighed the decision to act—pros and cons; what form their action took; what the experience is/was like; how it impacted and changed them and others; what advice they’d give to others who have yet to act/ may be considering acting.

Suzanne was enthusiastic, and thus began one of the most enlightening and fulfilling journeys of my life.

I will be forever grateful to the changemakers whose words follow for their thoughtful, candid, and, often, poignant responses—not to mention their own efforts. Those responses were as varied as the changemakers themselves, but there was one theme that arose over and over again: the importance of storytelling.  

Telling one’s own story can be healing to the storyteller in addition to moving an audience to act or legislate.  And it can certainly open the listener’s eyes.  This particular listener, for example, never gave enough thought to how important it was for Black parents to give their children Black dolls or Santas that couldn’t be found in stores and to expose them to books by or about African Americans that couldn’t be found in schools.  I didn’t fully understand the psychological damage that appropriated team mascots can inflict on Indigenous people, particularly children.  And I never gave much thought to how much architecture and design can result in injustice and inequality.  I promise that your eyes, too, will be opened, thanks to these stories. 

The interviews were conducted during a less than sunny time period.  The nation was in the middle of the Covid crisis and still dealing with effects of the January 6 insurrection, the murder of George Floyd (and others). Congress was unable to pass criminal justice reform legislation or a voting rights bill to pre-empt actual election steals plotted by undemocratic state legislators.  Local school boards were banning books.  Even the baseball season was delayed.

What a saving grace it was to speak with every person whose story follow.  To a professional basketball players who took the season off to work for social justice. To a CEO insisting his company have a “heart and soul” and commit to help revive a troubled city. To students creating projects and platforms to fight injustice.  To teachers trying to tell the true story of historical events.  Reading about the indignities and obstacles so many on these people faced, you might marvel, as I do, that they all have the energy, desire and optimism to fight for social justice instead of just throw up their hands. But they all have used those hands to do wonderful work. I dare you not to be inspired…and to act when your own moment arrives.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Fiffer, is the author of the memoir: Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel. Most recently he collaborated with the late civil rights icon, Dr. C. T. Vivian, on his memoir, It's in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior. He also collaborated with Southern Poverty Law Center co-founder Morris Dees on two award-winning memoirs, A Season for Justice and Hate on Trial. He is the co-author of Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths, and the Movement that Changed America, a Harlem Book Fair nonfiction finalist; and with his wife Sharon wrote 50 Ways to Help Your Community: A Handbook for Change.  Fiffer, a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Other books include Tyrannosaurus Sue and How to Watch Baseball. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Chicago-based Civic Leadership Foundation. He lives in Evanston, Illinois. 

Special thanks to webmaster Chris Bomm.

Finally: Every book should have an official song, don’t you think.  These are my choices, but feel free to send me your suggestions.

“Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and “TimePeace” by Terry Callier.