While too often the popular narrative is about Black protestors in the streets persuading presidents to pass Civil Rights legislation, this book finally tells the full story of the unsung Black officials who were just as instrumental in moving the country beyond what America had understood it could become. In his book From Protest to Politics, Northwestern Professor of History Brett Gadsden unlocks the stories of the critical generation of African Americans - Marjorie Lawson, Louis Martin, and Clifford Alexander, among others - responsible for taking all that they'd built and learned in the civil rights struggle of the 1950's and bringing it right into the arena of Presidential politics itself. These Black officials gained unprecedented positions within the halls of power, for the first time integrating the ranks of the Cabinet and the Senior White House Leadership. Once they were installed in historic key positions within the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson Administrations, they used their stature, acute pragmatism, and problem-solving talents to advance equal rights for all Americans. Richly told and drawing upon years of research, From Protest to Politics is a seminal work not only in the history of African American politics but American political history in general.
