The Journey Of Reconciliation

Holding each other up with respect, dignity and kindness.

“A compelling, spellbinding examination of a pivotal event in civil rights history . . . a highly readable and dramatic account of a major turning point.” —Journal of African-American History Black Americans in the Jim Crow South could not escape the grim reality of racial segregation, whether enforced by law or by custom. In Freedom’s Main Line: The Journey of Reconciliation and the Freedom Rides, author Derek Charles Catsam shows that courtrooms, classrooms, and cemeteries were not the only front lines in African Americans’ prolonged struggle for basic civil rights. Buses, trains, and other modes of public transportation provided the perfect means for civil rights activists to protest the second-class citizenship of African Americans, bringing the reality of the violence of segregation into the consciousness of America and the world. Freedom’s Main Line argues that the Freedom Rides, a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, were a logical, natural evolution of such earlier efforts as the Journey of Reconciliation, relying on the principles of nonviolence so common in the larger movement. The impact of the Freedom Rides, however, was unprecedented, fixing the issue of civil rights in the national consciousness. Later activists were often dubbed Freedom Riders even if they never set foot on a bus. With challenges to segregated transportation as his point of departure, Catsam chronicles black Americans’ long journey toward increased civil rights. Freedom’s Main Line tells the story of bold incursions into the heart of institutional discrimination, journeys undertaken by heroic individuals who forced racial injustice into the national and international spotlight and helped pave the way for the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The saga of the Freedom Rides is an improbable, almost unbelievable story. In the course of six months in 1961, four hundred and fifty Freedom Riders expanded the realm of the possible in American politics, redefining the limits of dissent and setting the stage for the civil rights movement. In this new version of his encyclopedic Freedom Riders, Raymond Arsenault offers a significantly condensed and tautly written account. With characters and plot lines rivaling those of the most imaginative fiction, this is a tale of heroic sacrifice and unexpected triumph. Arsenault recounts how a group of volunteers--blacks and whites--came together to travel from Washington DC through the Deep South, defying Jim Crow laws in buses and terminals and putting their lives on the line for racial justice. News photographers captured the violence in Montgomery, shocking the nation and sparking a crisis in the Kennedy administration. Here are the key players--their fears and courage, their determination and second thoughts, and the agonizing choices they faced as they took on Jim Crow--and triumphed. Winner of the Owsley Prize Publication is timed to coincide with the airing of the American Experience miniseries documenting the Freedom Rides "Arsenault brings vividly to life a defining moment in modern American history." --Eric Foner, The New York Times Book Review "Authoritative, compelling history." --William Grimes, The New York Times "For those interested in understanding 20th-century America, this is an essential book." --Roger Wilkins, Washington Post Book World "Arsenault's record of strategy sessions, church vigils, bloody assaults, mass arrests, political maneuverings and personal anguish captures the mood and the turmoil, the excitement and the confusion of the movement and the time." --Michael Kenney, The Boston Globe

"Lucy and Lola are 11-year old twins. The girls are spending their summer on Gabriola Island with their Kookum (grandmother) while their mother studies for the bar exam. During their time with Kookum, the girls begin to learn about her experiences in being sent - and having to send their mother to Residential school. Ultimately, they discover what it means to be intergenerational survivors"--Inside cover.

These stories gathered by John Paul Lederach from the Bible and from conflicts in the church and in public settings of various cultures show the narrative basis of personal experience and reconciliation. Journeying through conflict and to its resolution involves a choice of direction, moving continuously toward reconciliation. This means meeting oneself, others, and God -- a profound task that lies at the heart of the gospel.A resource for small groups or adult education classes to reflect upon and use to explore the dimensions of reconciliation.

Residential Schools and Reconciliation is a unique, timely, and provocative work that tackles and explains the institutional responses to Canada's residential school legacy.

This edited collection provides deep insights and varied perspectives of innovative and courageous efforts to reconcile the conflicts that have characterized the history of Indigenous people, settlers, and their descendants in Canada. From the opening chapter, the volume contextualizes why Canada is on a reconciliation journey, and how that journey is far from over. It is a multi-disciplinary treatise on decolonization, peacebuilding, and conflict transformation that is a must-read for those scholars, students, and practitioners of peacebuilding seeking a deeper understanding of reconciliation, decolonization, and community-building. Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and influencers from across Canada describe positive conflict transformation through various lenses, including education, economics, business, land sharing, and justice reform. The authors describe their personal and professional journeys, offering insights and research into how individuals and institutions are responding to reconciliation. Each chapter provides readers with windows into the tangible ways that Canadians are building a peaceful shared future, together.

Encourage children to show love and support for each other and to consider each other’s well-being in their everyday actions. Consultant, international speaker and award-winning author Monique Gray Smith wrote You Hold Me Up to prompt a dialogue among young people, their care providers and educators about reconciliation and the importance of the connections children make with others. With vibrant illustrations from celebrated artist Danielle Daniel, this is a foundational book about building relationships, fostering empathy and encouraging respect between peers, starting with our littlest citizens.