The civil rights movement is often defined narrowly\, relegated to the 1950s and 1960s and populated by such colossa l figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Many forget that the m ovement was bigger than the figures on the frontline and that it grew from intellectual and historical efforts that continue today. In "Path to Grac e: Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement\," winner of the 2023 Eudora Welt y Prize\, Ethel Morgan Smith shines light on unsung heroes of the civil ri ghts movement\, the ordinary citizens working behind the scenes to make an impact in their communities.
\nThrough eleven original interviews w ith teachers\, parents hosting fundraisers for civil right workers\, volun teers helping with voter registration\, and more\, Smith highlights the co ntributions these figures made to the civil rights movement. Some of these brave warriors worked at the elbows of icons while others were clearing n ew paths\, all passing through history without wide recognition. \;Pat h to Grace \;introduces readers to new witnesses and largely neglected voices. Also included are interviews with such esteemed but less studied figures as writer Gloria Naylor\, poet Nikki Giovanni\, fashion designer A nn Lowe\, and educator Constance Curry.
\nThis work of social change situates these narratives in both the past and present. Indeed\, many of Smith&rsquo\;s subjects\, such as Emma Bruce\, John Canty\, Andrea Lee\, A nn Lowe\, and Blanche Virginia Franklin Moore\, can trace their ancestry b ack to enslavement\, which provides a direct chain of narrators and firmly plants the roots of the civil rights movement in the country&rsquo\;s fou ndation. Through historical contextualization and an analysis of contempor ary sociopolitical events\, \;Path to Grace \;celebrates the contr ibutions of some of the nameless individuals\, generation after generation \, who worked to make the United States better for all its citizens.
\nJoin the Prince George&rsquo\;s County Office of Human Rights and the P rince George&rsquo\;s County Memorial Library System in conversation with the author\, Ethel Morgan Smith.
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Ethel Morgan Smith \;is the author of three books: "Path to Grace: Reimagining the Civil Rights Mo vement\," (August 2023) \;winner of the 2023 Eudora Welty prize\; "Fro m Whence Cometh My Help: The African American Community at Hollins College " (2000 &\; 2017)\; \;and "Reflections of the Other: Being Black in Germany \;(2012)." Her work has been published in \;The New York Times\, Callaloo\, African American Review\, \;University of Florida J ournal\, STIR Journal\, Green Mountains Journal\, Midnight &\; Indigo J ournal\, De Standaard \;(Brussels\, Belgium)\, \;Connotation Press \, Tusculum Review\, \;and \;Re-Visioning the Past: Historical Sel f-Reflexivity in American Short Fiction \;(Germany). \;
\nSm ith is \;Professor of English Emeritus at West Virginia University&nbs p\;and has taught at: Virginia Tech\, Randolph College\, Universitä\;t Tü\;bingen (Germany)\, Monash University (Australia)\, University of Canterbury (New Zealand). \;She received the following fellowships: Eu dora Welty Prize\, Fulbright Scholar-Universitä\;t of Tü\;bingen ( Germany)\, Rockefeller Fellowship (Bellagio Italy)\, Visiting Artist-Ameri can Academy Rome\, DuPont Fellow-Randolph College\, Visiting Scholar-Women &rsquo\;s Studies Research Center-Brandies University\, The Virginia Cente r for the Creative Arts\, Bread Loaf Fellowship\, Two NEHs (University of Kansas (1993) and University of Louisiana-Lafayette (2016) and PLAYA (Summ er Lake\, Oregon).
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