Reviews

At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire

sunshinemilk's review against another edition

i think it’s important to note that this was written by a white woman. for that reason, i will not be rating. this is such an important history and i wish the resources would not have been given to a white woman to create. it felt disgusting to know she was not only financially profiting off of this history, but receiving fame and accolades for this while her family represented the very people who carried out these genocidal and vile actions.

cdbaker's review against another edition

5.0

Hard but important.

whitmc's review against another edition

3.0

Enjoyed the content and the history, but wish that it had been done by a better writer, or even by the same writing, but after she outlined the book before writing. It was incredibly well-researched, SO much detailed information, but it read like the author took all the facts and research she did, threw them in a bag, and just grabbed at random to stick in the book. The stories did not follow a chronology or a theme (other than fighting racism, of course), so there was no driving element. Rosa Parks was a part of the book, but not the central part of the story so the title felt deceiving.

I will say that it was a good book club book--it led to a lot of discussion about current and past race issues. And you didn't need to have read the entire book in order to be a solid part of the discussion.

christinecasey's review against another edition

4.0

This book is not an easy read. It is filled with traumatic recountings of the extreme sexual violence that Black women had perpetrated against them by white men. But it is an important history that is left out of typical discussions surrounding the civil rights movement.

I am worried that one could read this book and say “wow. We’ve come a long way.” Even though I don’t necessarily think that is the author’s intention. However, I realize that most people reading this book are doing so because they are acutely aware of systemic inequalities that have existed in the past and still exist today. It is scary to see the parallels between white supremacy, segregationists, police brutality, and victim blaming tactics of 70 years ago and today.

Let this book be both a history lesson and also a cautionary tale of not buying into racist ideology.

pleoniesmith's review against another edition

5.0

This book goes beyond dispelling the myth of quiet, tired Rosa Parks. This is the story of the first women's movement in the United States-the black women's movement. It reveals how the civil rights movement was actually couched in the struggle for black womanhood. Excellent, well research. A respectful telling of a buried truth.

cloudss's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

4.5

well written and important addition to civil rights historical accounts to include black women's little known/hidden contributions. rosa parks!! 

kaitiekait05's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

akingston5's review against another edition

5.0

Necessary, necessary, necessary read. Beginning with the assault of Recy Taylor through the trial of Joan Little, McGuire lays out the history of the civil rights movement as a response to the violation and dehumanization of black womanhood. Necessary read, I’ll say it again.

ruthlessly's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent, but harrowing. I had to take a break reading this, but I'm glad I did. Thanks, Mady.

alyset4720's review against another edition

5.0

Every person should read this book once in their life. It shows the whole side of the Civil Rights movement you don’t learn about in school, and discusses in detail about how Black women’s’ fight again rape and sexual assault was a corner stone of the movement.