The Reading Room

Letter from Birmingham Jail, a Reading Room essay

On Letter from Birmingham Jail

Michael Fowler

It was written in the margins of a newspaper, in a cell, in answer to clergymen who had called the protests untimely.

On Letter from Birmingham Jail

Michael Fowler

It was written in the margins of a newspaper, in a cell, in answer to clergymen who had called the protests untimely.

Parting the Waters, a Reading Room essay

On Parting the Waters

Michael Fowler

Taylor Branch spent twenty-four years writing the history of the American civil-rights movement, and Parting the Waters, the first volume of his trilogy, is where the epic begins.

On Parting the Waters

Michael Fowler

Taylor Branch spent twenty-four years writing the history of the American civil-rights movement, and Parting the Waters, the first volume of his trilogy, is where the epic begins.

The Warmth of Other Suns, a Reading Room essay

On The Warmth of Other Suns

Michael Fowler

Isabel Wilkerson told the Great Migration as the epic it was, and in doing so recovered one of the largest and least understood events in American history.

On The Warmth of Other Suns

Michael Fowler

Isabel Wilkerson told the Great Migration as the epic it was, and in doing so recovered one of the largest and least understood events in American history.

The New Jim Crow, a Reading Room essay

On The New Jim Crow

Michael Fowler

Michelle Alexander recast the national argument over criminal justice by naming what she argued it does.

On The New Jim Crow

Michael Fowler

Michelle Alexander recast the national argument over criminal justice by naming what she argued it does.

Give Us the Ballot, a Reading Room essay

On Give Us the Ballot

Michael Fowler

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is often treated as an ending, the triumphant close of the civil-rights movement's fight for the ballot.

On Give Us the Ballot

Michael Fowler

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is often treated as an ending, the triumphant close of the civil-rights movement's fight for the ballot.

One Person, No Vote, a Reading Room essay

On One Person, No Vote

Michael Fowler

Carol Anderson set out to document voter suppression as deliberate policy rather than accident, and One Person, No Vote, published in 2018, makes the case with the precision of a...

On One Person, No Vote

Michael Fowler

Carol Anderson set out to document voter suppression as deliberate policy rather than accident, and One Person, No Vote, published in 2018, makes the case with the precision of a...