Carry Me Home

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

De: Diane McWhorter

Narrado por: 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

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.

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.

A Well Told History

I can’t speak ill of any of my history teachers. They told me the stories that were told to them. They didn’t know any differently. They didn’t even know that another narrative might exist. This was difficult and painful to listen to; at times, it made me wonder why people of color long to be a part of the society that seems to spurn them. It also helped me understand why there was such a difference in the philosophies of different civil rights leaders and their groups. This is a story that needs to be told; the brutality is astounding, perhaps it can serve as a cautionary tale to those of us trying to pick aside in the histories that are being written today.

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.

Worth the read

A very heavy but worth the read novel! Take your time reading it in order to fully understand the severity of the time

Bought this hard copy couple years ago

Been so spoiled with Audible (since2001?) that I kept putting off reading this. Surprised to see it in Audible! Loved it. Filled in many gaps in my knowledge. Well done!

Simply Excellent

Between Parting of the Waters and Carry Me Home you could not ask for a better baptism in the fight for Civil Rights which Carrie’s on unfortunately to this day.

DEEP dive into the history of Birmingham

There's lots to say about this book. First off, I consider myself pretty well aware of the people and events of the Civil Rights Movement. But there were still So Many Names I did not know. Most bafflingly is how is it I have never heard of Fred Shuttlesworth? He was the Martin Luther King Jr of Birmingham. I consider King a personal hero, but he wasn't really even in Birmingham until 1962/63! Shuttlesworth was there doing all the hard work. And nearly getting killed for it at least 3 times! He was alive well into the 2000s, yet still, I don't recall ever hearing his name before this book.

Speaking of names... Lordy, there are names! Freedom Riders, protestors, preachers, police officers, the infamous police dogs, journalists, the people in (federal, state, and local!) government, the KKK, the neoNazis, the communists, the waitstaff at the country clubs, the miners, the teachers, the janitors, seriously, I would not be surprised if there were over 1000 people named in this book! Some of them come up repeatedly, but after so long an absence, that I'm *still* not sure if they were a good guy or a bad one! I'd say this book needs a cheat sheet, but it'd be 10 pages long!

I normally don't like to listen to nonfiction on audiobooks. I don't know why, it doesn't flow for me as well or something. I didn't really get into this book until we got to the 60s. The book covers Birmingham's entire history, including how it was founded as a mining town, which lead into the power structures that were well in place to hold fast to segregation. It detailed Bull Connor's life (originally a radio baseball announcer) and George Wallace's (originally a proponent of integration until he realized he could build a political career on segregation). It detailed a lot of other stuff that has unfortunately already slipped out of my brain. In addition to the (thousands, I swear!) names, the narrator read very fast. This was not a book on any level that I could listen to while doing dishes, cooking dinner, or driving because it required all of my attention. That said, I don't fault Xe Sands for reading so fast. The audiobook was 29 hours long as it was! Had she read any slower, it woulda taken 39!

All that said, why did I read this book? Why did I stick with it? The events that happened in Birmingham are important and still relevant. They cut to the soul of this country as it was, as it is, and as it can become. For good and evil all the way around. The KKK and neo Nazis haven't gone away. Hell, they haven't even stopped attacking people in churches. Yet the fight against the forces of evil have helped bend the arc of human history (slowly) towards justice. You can't brush off your hands and say "well, those fights are long over", cause they're not. We've come a long way, but there are still politicians who say the quiet parts out loud. Maybe they don't quite go as far as "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and maybe they don't give the Klan 15 minutes head start on beating bus riders before the police will respond, but they channel those days and those sentiments. I pray we don't have to lose innocent young people in new church shoes to make us see that those hateful feelings are alive and dangerous.