Black Power and the American Myth: 50th Anniversary Edition

Written by C.T. Vivian

Narrated by Matthew J. Harris

In 1970, C. T. Vivian, a close colleague of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a member of his executive staff, sat down to take stock of the civil rights movement and the progress it had made. His assessment was that it failed, and that the blame lay in the existence of myths about America.

As prophetic today as it was fifty years ago, Vivian's voice rings out as a critique and a call to action for a society in deep need of justice and peace.

The civil rights struggle that began when Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, decided to sit in the front of a bus has deeply altered American society and the American conscience. Yet from several perspectives, that movement has resulted in failure. The Black struggle for independence is more of an uphill climb than ever. Why? C. T. Vivian asserts that the civil rights movement failed because it was built on certain myths about America:

- the myth that Americans will do what is right as soon as they know what is right.

- the myth that legislation leads to justice.

- the myth that America is an open society where any minority group can advance.

- the myth that an ethic of love forms the core of the American conscience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666137262

C.T. Vivian

C. T. VIVIAN (1924-2020), called "the greatest preacher who ever lived" by Dr. Martin Luther King, was an iconic civil rights leader known for his strong principle of nonviolent action. Born in Missouri in 1924, Vivian briefly lived in Illinois before moving to Nashville, where he attained a degree in theology and joined John Lewis, Diane Nash, and others to integrate the city in 1960. After being imprisoned and beaten during the Freedom Rides, he joined Dr. King at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and played leading roles in integration and voting rights efforts in Birmingham, St. Augustine, and Selma. C. T. Vivian was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by President Barack Obama.