Saying It Loud

1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement

By: Mark Whitaker

Narrated by: JD Jackson

Mark Whitaker “writes with the eye of a journalist and ear of a poet” (The Boston Globe) to tell the story of the momentous year that redefined the civil rights movement as a new sense of Black identity, expressed in the slogan “Black Power,” challenged the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis.

In “crisp prose” (The New York Times) and novelistic detail Saying It Loud tells the story of how the Black Power phenomenon began to challenge the traditional civil rights movement in the turbulent year of 1966. Saying It Loud takes you inside the dramatic events in this seminal year, from Stokely Carmichael’s middle-of-the-night ouster of moderate icon John Lewis as a chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to Carmichael’s impassioned cry of “Black Power!” during a protest march in rural Mississippi. From Julian Bond’s humiliating and racist ouster from the Georgia state legislature because of his antiwar statements to Ronald Reagan’s election as California governor riding a “white backlash” vote against Black Power and urban unrest. From the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California, to the origins of Kwanzaa, the Black Arts Movement, and the first Black studies programs. From Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ill-fated campaign to take the civil rights movement north to Chicago to the wrenching ousting of the white members of SNCC.

Deeply researched and widely reported, Saying It Loud offers brilliant portraits of the major characters in the yearlong drama and provides new details and insights from key players and journalists who covered the story. It also makes a compelling case for why the lessons from 1966 still resonate in the era of Black Lives Matter and the fierce contemporary battles over voting rights, identity politics, and the teaching of Black History.

Good book

I learned quite a bit. The book was very interesting and thoroughly researched. Pleasant narration.

So relevant in our time

What happened to the civil rights movement when the nation focused its attention on the loudest and most militant advocates, is a lesson for us today. This book tells the story honestly and accurately. It is an important book for those interested in 20th century American history.

An Excellent Listen

I enjoyed hearing the story of a critical turning point in the civil rights struggle. This insight that this book gave me, a child of the 80s and presently civically engaged citizen, into some of the internal and external struggles faced within the civil rights movement is invaluable.

The narrator's voice is better suited for an action movie trailer. You get used to it after an hour or so, but man...it was tough. I really wish people would stop hiring people with these kinds of voices to read historical narrative. It would have been 10x better to hear this in the author's voice.

Detailed and Compelling

I enjoyed this book very much! It chronicled an exciting time in history in a very engaging way. I has no idea that 1966 was such a pivotal year in the Civil Rights Movement. It also happens to be the year that my mom graduated from high school. So it's an important year for my family too.

Highly Recommend for anyone interested in learning about sung and unsung heroes/heroines of the Movement.