Driven By The Movement: Reports from the Black Power Era

Driven by the Movement collects the stories of twenty ordinary people who did extraordinary things for the Black liberation struggle during the pivotal decade of 1965-1975. These activists came from across the US and all walks of life-single working mothers, clergy, students, teachers, military veterans-to organize against police brutality, poverty, hunger, substandard schools, and colonialism in Africa. Drawing from her own experience at the heart of the movement, JoNina Abron-Ervin's on-the-ground reporting offers a rare look into the pragmatism, optimism, compromise, and contradiction and the everyday acts of dedication that animated the Black Power era. This new edition includes expanded material on the history of the Black Panther newspaper as a source of mass political education and on the Black Panther Party's legendary survival programs, such as its Free Breakfast for Children and healthcare programs. A foreword by writer and organizer William C. Anderson connects two torchbearers of the Black radical tradition across generations.

About the Author :
JoNina Abron-Ervin is a journalist, grassroots community organizer, and former member of the Black Panther Party. She was the last editor of the Black Panther newspaper and the managing editor of The Black Scholar magazine. JoNina is a retired Western Michigan University associate professor of communication and cohosts the Black Autonomy Podcast. William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author of The Nation on No Map and coauthor of As Black as Resistance. His writings have been included in the anthologies Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? and No Selves to Defend.

Review :
"Very little is written [about this period] by a scholar who is also sharing her lived experience. This is an essential work for all who wish to know more about the context of movements, their impact on our world, and the individuals who devoted their lives to the upliftment of humanity." --Ericka Huggins, educator and former member of the Black Panther Party "Driven by the Movement is necessary reading ... anchored in the radical knowledge that revolutionary movements are only possible because of the largely-under recognized intellectual and political work of masses of people who came together and worked to free one another and themselves. ... It will be especially powerful for the next generation of Black organizers."--Robyn Maynard, author of Rehearsals for Living "Told with a journalists' flair, a historian's sense of context, and a participant's candor...Driven by the Movement drops gem after gem, demonstrating the power of lions telling their own history."--Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, author of The Revolution Has Come: Black Power, Gender, and the Black Panther Party "We owe so much to revolutionary elder JoNina, last editor of the Black Panther newspaper and documentarian of the Black Power era."--Harsha Walia, author of Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism