The Hands of Peace : A Holocaust Survivor's Fight for Civil Rights in the American South

"Born in Hamburg in the 1930s, Marione Ingram survived the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, only to find when she came to the United States that racism was as pervasive in the American South as anti-Semitism was in Europe. Moving first to New York and then to Washington, DC, Marione joined the burgeoning civil rights movement, protesting discrimination in housing, employment, education, and other aspects of life in the nation's capital, including the denial of voting rights. She was a volunteer in the legendary March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, and she was an organizer of an extended sit-in to support the Mississippi Freedom Party. In 1964, at the urging of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, Marione went south to Mississippi. There, she worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and taught African American youth at one of the country's controversial freedom schools. With her boldness came threats--white supremacists made ominous calls and left a blazing cross in front of her school--and an arrest and conviction. She narrowly escaped a three-month prison sentence. As a white woman and a Holocaust escapee, Marione was perhaps the most unlikely of heroes in the American civil rights movement; and yet, her core belief in the equality of all people, regardless of race or religion, did not waver and she refused to be quieted, refused to accept bigotry. This empowering, true story offers a rare up close view of the civil rights movement. It is a story of conviction and courage--a reminder of how far the rights movement has come and the progress that still needs to be made."--Page 2 of book jacket. Born in Hamburg in the 1930s, Marione Ingram survived the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, only to find when she came to the United States that racism was as pervasive in the American South as anti-Semitism was in Europe. Moving first to New York and then to Washington, DC, Marione joined the burgeoning civil rights movement, protesting discrimination in housing, employment, education, and other aspects of life in the nation's capital, including the denial of voting rights. She was a volunteer in the legendary March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic #147;I Have a Dream" speech, and she was an organizer of an extended sit-in to support the Mississippi Freedom Party. In 1964, at the urging of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, Marione went south to Mississippi. There, she worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and taught African American youth at one of the country's controversial freedom schools. With her boldness came threats#8212;white supremacists made ominous calls and left a blazing cross in front of her school#8212;and an arrest and conviction. She narrowly escaped a three-month prison sentence. As a white woman and a Holocaust escapee, Marione was perhaps the most unlikely of heroes in the American civil rights movement; and yet, her core belief in the equality of all people, regardless of race or religion, did not waver and she refused to be quieted, refused to accept bigotry. This empowering, true story offers a rare up close view of the civil rights movement. It is a story of conviction and courage#8212;a reminder of how far the rights movement has come and the progress that still needs to be made Born in Hamburg in the 1930s, Marione Ingram fled Nazi Germany, only to find racism as pervasive in the American South as anti-Semitism was in Europe. Marione moved first to New York and then to Washington, D.C. where, in 1960, she joined the Congress of Racial Equality, protesting discrimination in housing, employment, education, and other aspects of life in the nation's capital, including the denial of voting rights. In D.C., Marione made a name for herself as a freedom fighter. She was a volunteer for the March on Washington and an organizer of an extended sit-in to support the Mississippi Freedom Party. A year later, at the urging of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, Marione went south to Mississippi. She was part of a coalition to end segregation and extend civil rights to African Americansand she was uncompromising in her demand for equality. In Mississippi, Marione became a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as well as an educator at one of the countrys most influential Freedom Schools. The school was one of the targets of the Ku Klux Klan. When they burned a cross in front of it, she painted the word "FREEDOM" in bold letters on the charred crossbar, creating an icon in the struggle for equal rights. As a white woman and a Holocaust refugee, Marione was the most unlikely of heroes in the fight for civil rights for African Americans. This is her empowering storya tale of courage, strength, and determination. Love and war In the beginning Thank you, Dr. Black In the wind Grand march The Baldwins and O'Dell Going to Mississippi 1964 Freedom ways Freedom cross Mississippi, mon amour Struggle and flight Home and away Back to Mississippi.