audiobook Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation; 1861-1867: Series 3; Volume 2: Land and Labor; 1866-1867 by From Brand: The University of North Carolina Press in History

Description

In February 1971; racial tension surrounding school desegregation in Wilmington; North Carolina; culminated in four days of violence and skirmishes between white vigilantes and black residents. The turmoil resulted in two deaths; six injuries; more than $500;000 in damage; and the firebombing of a white-owned store; before the National Guard restored uneasy peace. Despite glaring irregularities in the subsequent trial; ten young persons were convicted of arson and conspiracy and then sentenced to a total of 282 years in prison. They became known internationally as the Wilmington Ten. A powerful movement arose within North Carolina and beyond to demand their freedom; and after several witnesses admitted to perjury; a federal appeals court; also citing prosecutorial misconduct; overturned the convictions in 1980. Kenneth Janken narrates the dramatic story of the Ten; connecting their story to a larger arc of Black Power and the transformation of post-Civil Rights era political organizing. Grounded in extensive interviews; newly declassified government documents; and archival research; this book thoroughly examines the 1971 events and the subsequent movement for justice that strongly influenced the wider African American freedom struggle.