First published 2025
MacArthur Cotton knows the danger when he joins the civil rights movement in Mississippi, the nation's most repressive state. White supremacists use terror to maintain control, and Black activists face imprisonment, violence, and constant fear. MacArthur comes from an activist family, but choosing to fight takes personal courage when so many others stay silent. He works alongside major figures like Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, while also supporting lesser-known heroes like the Greenes and McGees in Greenwood who wage their own battles against oppression. Through multiple imprisonments and years of living under threat, MacArthur serves as a foot soldier in a movement that depends on young Black people willing to sacrifice their safety. The struggle leaves him with lasting emotional and psychological wounds, yet his commitment to activism continues long after the Civil Rights Acts pass.
Genres: 20th-century, african-american, 21st-century, activism, african-american-historical-fiction, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: activism, sacrifice, social-change
Setting: Greenwood, Mississippi
Period: Civil Rights Era
288 pages · Hardcover · NewSouth Books
Content warnings: violence