During the Civil Rights Movement, African American women did not stand on ceremony; they simply did the work that needed to be done. Yet despite their significant contributions at all levels of the Movement, they remain mostly invisible to the larger public. Beyond Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, most Americans would be hard-pressed to name other leaders at the community, local, and national levels. In Lighting the Fires of Freedom, Janet Dewart Bell shines a light on women’s all-too-often overlooked achievements in the Movement.

Kirkus Reviews described Lighting the Fires of Freedom as “candid testimony from impressive and influential women,” and Publishers Weekly called it “a valuable and enlightening companion to other accounts of the movement.” Through wide-ranging conversations with nine women, including Myrlie Evers, Leah Chase, and June Jackson Christmas—several now in their nineties with decades of previously untold stories—we hear what ignited and fueled their activism. Bell vividly captures their inspiring voices.

Lighting the Fires of Freedom offers these deeply personal and intimate accounts of extraordinary struggles for justice that resulted in profound social change, stories that are vital and relevant today.