{"product_id":"before-the-movement-the-hidden-history-of-black-civil-rights","title":"Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe familiar story of civil rights goes something like this: Once, the American legal system was dominated by racist officials who shut Black people out and refused to recognize their basic human dignity. Then, starting in the 1940s, a few brave lawyers ventured south, bent on changing the law--and soon, everyday African Americans joined with them to launch the Civil Rights Movement. In \u003cem\u003eBefore the Movement\u003c\/em\u003e, historian Dylan C. Penningroth overturns this story, demonstrating that Black people had long exercised \"the rights of everyday use,\" and that this lesser-known private-law tradition paved the way for the modern vision of civil rights. Well-versed in the law, Black people had used it to their advantage for nearly a century to shape how they worked, worshiped, learned, and loved. Based on long-forgotten sources found in the basements of county courthouses, \u003cem\u003eBefore the Movement\u003c\/em\u003e recovers a vision of Black life allied with, yet distinct from, \"the freedom struggle.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dylan C Penningroth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44158237769955,"sku":"9781324093107","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0356\/3906\/6759\/products\/9781324093107-us.jpg?v=1700508495","url":"https:\/\/littleprofessorbookshop.com\/products\/before-the-movement-the-hidden-history-of-black-civil-rights","provider":"Little Professor","version":"1.0","type":"link"}