Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972

Good Trouble will show the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland – specifically the influence of the Montgomery to Selma march on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews of events leading up to both marches and afterwards. This is close to the author’s heart as both of his parents marched to integrate lunch counters and movie theatres in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1963 as college students. His mother was at the 1963 March to Washington where Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Award winning author Julieann Campbell (On Bloody Sunday) wrote the introduction for Good Trouble, looking back at her times growing up in Derry, in the heart of the Catholic Civil Rights Movement. Jones travelled to Dublin, Belfast and Derry to conduct interviews for the book. In all, he did fifteen interviews with people who were involved in the movement in Northern Ireland (including Billy McVeigh – featured in the BAFTA winning documentary, Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland) and in the United States (including Richard Smiley and Dr. Sheyann Webb-Christburg – both were at Bloody Sunday in Alabama and on the Selma to Montgomery march among others). Jones was also able to talk with Eamonn McCann (he took part in the Belfast to Derry march in 1969; he was the John Lewis of Northern Ireland). Unlike most books on Northern Ireland, this goes into detail about the connection and the influence between the two movements. Also, most focus on Bloody Sunday and not the pivotal incidents at Burntollet Bridge and the Battle of the Bogside. Building off of unprecedented access and interviews with participants in both movements, Jones crafts a gripping and moving account of these pivotal years for both countries.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments; Introduction ; Prologue; 1 Coming to Derry, Summer 2022; 2 The Roots of the Conflict: Michael Collins and Easter Rising; 3 The Rise of the IRA; 4 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; 5 1963 March on Washington; 6 The Courageous Eight; 7 Selma to Montgomery March; 8 The People’s Democracy in Northern Ireland; 9 John Lewis; 10 Bernadette Devlin; 11 John Hume; 12 Eamonn McCann; 13 Selma to Montgomery March—Bloody Sunday; 14 Bloody Sunday—the Impact; 15 The Aftermath—The Selma to Montgomery March; 16 The Beginning of the Catholic Civil Rights Movement; 17 Belfast to Derry March—the Beginning; 18 Day one—January 1, 1969, Belfast to Derry Long March; 19 Day Two: Belfast to Derry—Toome; 20 Day Three of the Belfast to Derry March; 21 Last Day of the Belfast to Derry March; 22 Battle of the Bogside; 23 Conflict with the Police, Paramilitaries, and the Marchers; 24 Conclusion; Brexit, Irish Unity, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland Today; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index

About the Author :
Forest Issac Jones is an author of nonfiction, history and essays. He specialises in the study of Irish History, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and Northern Ireland. He resides in Virginia, USA, and is an adjunct professor at Hollins University.

Review :
Drinks in the Library Podcast New Books Network The Clay Cane Show  "By viewing the events in Derry through the prism of those in Selma, Forest Jones draws attention to the striking commonality in cause and consequence of both the American and Northern Irish Civil Rights movements, and the awful violence which attempted to silence those twin cries for equality.  In doing so, he creates an insightful and compelling examination of a terrible period in our shared histories and highlights the need for society to learn from the past for a more equitable future.”—Brian McGilloway, Sunday Times and NY Times Bestselling author. "An important book that traces the parallels between two different fights for civil rights."—Sharon Dempsey Author, Queens University in Belfast “The first comprehensive look at the connection between the two Civil Rights movements in the USA and Northern Ireland. Jones has written a book that is worthy of its subject.”—Chris Riches, Correspondent for North-West England and Wales on the Daily Express. “Jones is a detailed researcher, and Good Trouble is based on a wide array of material, old and new...Jones offers affecting accounts of both the Selma to Montgomery march and the Belfast to Derry march. His book reads like a historical thriller at times. A must read.”—Richard Moriarty, North West District Editor of The Sun. Good trouble’ [...] is, very much, a historical tale of the good, the bad and the ugly, and ultimately, the good again. —Belfast Telegraph Mr. Issac Jones examines the movements’ origins, its links, marches, protests, riots and dangerous confrontations, and the roles of individuals that helped bring change. [...] The book acknowledges how the anti-interment march in Derry that ended in the Bloody Sunday massacre was inspired by the Black Civil Rights campaign. —Derry Journal This is a wide-ranging story about connections between the civil rights movements in Alabama and Northern Ireland. — The Irish Times