Carry Me Home

Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution

By: Diane McWhorter

Narrated by: Xe Sands

The Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatic account of the Civil Rights Era's climactic battle in Birmingham as the movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., brought down the institutions of segregation.

"The Year of Birmingham", 1963, was a cataclysmic turning point in America's long civil rights struggle. Child demonstrators faced down police dogs and fire hoses in huge nonviolent marches against segregation. Ku Klux Klansmen retaliated by bombing the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four young Black girls. Diane McWhorter, daughter of a prominent Birmingham family, weaves together police and FBI records, archival documents, interviews with Black activists and Klansmen, and personal memories into an extraordinary narrative of the personalities and events that brought about America's second emancipation.

©2001 Diane McWhorter (P)2021 Tantor

Mmm-mmm?

This is a good book, with a great narrator. I enjoyed the highlighting of people during the Civil Rights Movement who often get lost in MLK's shadow. This book is also more..."raw" in it's description of people.

But the weirdest thing is that the narrator replacing the n-word with mmm-mmm each time.

Fabulous account

An amazingly nuanced, thoroughly researched account of Birmingham 1963 and much of the history leading up to it. McWhorter is a phenomenal in her ability to weave a complex tapestry that describes how horror develops and persists. The number of characters and events is overwhelming – – too much to keep straight – but that doesn’t matter as the overall arc is clear and smart. I found the narration almost unlistenable but the book was so good that I persisted and it was worth it.

Slow Down !

This is definitely a crucial book about the civil rights struggle which does a great job of balancing the personal and historical. I also like this narrator a lot. Her voice conveys warmth and enthusiasm for the material. It took me a couple days to nail down why listening left me breathless and dazed. Xe speaks as fast as an auctioneer at a cattle show. That she still does it with such skill is a tribute to her professionalism. I just wish she hadn't poured it all out in such a rush. It's a big book. We're not expecting to hear it in a torrent. My hat's off to her lung capacity but I wish I was given a bit more time to process what she's saying.

The True History of Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement.

Having moved to Montgomery over 40 years ago, I have read a great deal about the civil rights movement. The people of Alabama are friendly, helpful, kind . . . so why they elect politicians who are so hostile to so many of their citizens, I’ll never know. I knew Bull Conner was incredibly racist and violent, but I had no idea how vicious he was. And, of course, he did not act alone. He had the help of the Klan. Worse, he had the support of the elite of Birmingham - businessmen, factory and mine owners. They gave, at the least, tacit consent to the atrocities committed. And it goes on. Maybe not in such a direct way, but so many of our citizens are below the poverty level. When the federal government offered to step in and help fund programs for those that needed help - in housing, nutritious food, medical care - our governor at that time stepped up and proudly declared that we didn’t need help from the federal government. With little or no funding for rural hospitals, doctors are leaving. Who does this impact? Poor whites, black, and brown families. Why are we spending millions funding prisons rather than feeding, housing, offering medical care, and educating our citizens? Why?

A Monumental Contribution

This book is a monumental contribution to the history of civil rights in the United, specifically in Alabama. The information is extraordinarily detailed. including dates names and times of events. The detail of the author's information is reminiscent of the work of Taylor Branch.

A criticism of the audio book, however, is the refusal to use the "N" word when quoting someone in history. I appreciate the difficulty and complexity of using that word. I also believe that avoiding it is a way to soften the impact of this history. The history is brutal, the word was used regularly to demean a population, and I, for one, do not want the impact of this history softened. Quotes that include the use of the "N" word should be read fully so the listener can feel the full harshness of the era.