Norvel

An American Hero

By: Kenneth F Conklin

Narrated by: Brian Abel

Norvel Lee, an unsung historical figure, rightfully should be included on a list of famous African Americans. On a September morning in 1948 - while a member of the US Olympic team, a Howard University student, and a veteran of World War 2 - Norvel Lee was arrested for taking a seat in the white section of a segregated train in rural Virginia. Thorough research of the facts about Jim Crow laws shows that Norvel Lee's appeal of the case resulted in a landmark civil rights decision.

©2020 Kenneth F. Conklin LLC (P)2020 Kenneth F. Conklin LLC

An inspirational American!

I enjoyed the fascinating life story of Norvel Lee. Truly a person worthy of great publicity even as he deflected it to others in his life. I hope to see the movie made some day!

Interesting

An interesting story of a man I had never heard of. However, his main influence seems to be in the areas of sport (boxing), eduucation, and as a roll model. Although he definately pushed for equal rights, and dealt admirably with the predjudices he faced, this is much more a story about an admirable man than about the civil rights movement per se. (I would have liked to see more background information, for example, of what life in the army was like for a black serviceman.) A good 70-80 % of the book is about his years as a boxer, although interesting to a non -boxing fan like myself.
Brian Abel does an excellent job with the narration.