Waking from the Dream

“A vitally needed appraisal of how the civil rights movement re-created itself in surprisingly effective ways after Dr. King’s death . . . No one is better qualified than David Chappell to examine these largely unexplored developments and to make sense of the ironies, tragedies, and triumphs. This is a brilliant, absorbing work that compels us to rethink our conceptions and judgments about the civil rights movement.”—Stewart Burns, author of We Will Stand Here Till We Die

“Waking from the Dream powerfully reveals the way the civil rights movement plodded on—in creative, often conflicted, and sometimes surprisingly successful ways—long after King was assassinated. Chappell brings to light the vitality of post-King-era black politics. This is a splendid book about the hard work of democracy—one that will inspire all who care about it.”—Jack Turner, author of Awakening to Race
 
“Chappell brilliantly recovers the usually neglected ferment and experimentation of a generation of Americans who tried to make good the goals of the civil rights movement in the years since Martin Luther King’s assassination. Waking from the Dream is also a masterly, thoughtful examination of the very different ways in which Dr. King’s name has been invoked since 1968.”—Tony Badger, Paul Mellon Professor of American History, Cambridge University
 
“Waking from the Dream offers the kind of clear-eyed analysis of our post–civil rights worlds of politics and memory work that we desperately need. David L. Chappell gets to some essential truths about the costs and benefits of myth-making. It is critical that we know this history so that we can properly contextualize the successes and failures of civil rights politics that brought us to this allegedly post-racial age.”—Jonathan Scot Holloway, author of Jim Crow Wisdom
 
“Beautifully written and thought-provoking . . . Historians have cast the period after King’s death as the New Nadir. The constant invocation of his name by allies, outsiders, and enemies made it appear as if nothing could measure up to his image, memory, or the seminal feats of Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. Chappell, however, has uncovered what the bright light of King has blinded so many to—the ongoing work by communities, politicians, and NGOs to build and sustain a more inclusive rights-based nation.”—Carol Anderson, author of Eyes off the Prize
 
“David L. Chappell has long been one of our sharpest and most original historians of civil rights. He confirms that reputation with Waking from the Dream. Chappell invites us to reconsider Dr. King’s legacy and critically appreciate the efforts of those who carried on in the 1970s and 1980s to keep his unfulfilled agenda before the nation’s conscience. This is an important book that will be of tremendous value to anyone interested in the history of race, inequality, and civil rights in modern America.”—Eric Arnesen, George Washington University