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4.5
I work at a University, and teach civil rights. This past spring, I took a group of students on a tour of the Civil Rights South in the US; next March, we will do a similar trip to Ireland. I was looking for a book that would introduce my students to the parallels and similarities in the two movements, and this does it in both a comprehensive yet easily accessible way.Happy with the prompt delivery of this important book.Absolutely fascinating work which draws parallels between the Civil Rights movement in the United States and that of Northern Ireland. Impeccably researched and packed full of remarkable insight. I highly recommend this, most especially for today's young activists. The argument must be made that there is strength in supporting other oppressed communities and in joining forces.Thank youWhile most educators and textbooks in the US would have us believe the polarization of oppression and race along lines of skin pigmentation is the natural, inherent, and historical condition of ethnic interaction, Dooley's book suggests otherwhise. _Black and Green_ looks at the common link forged by oppression and the struggle for liberation between white Irish and black Americans since the 1800s.Dooley examines the political, social, and ideological connections between the civil rights struggle in Ireland and America. His analysis results in a picture of reciprocal interchange with both sides influencing, shaping, and supporting the other. The end result is that this "other" demarcated through pigmentation was hardly an "other" during the historical moment. Angela Davis and Bernadette McAliskey support each other while in prison. When McAliskey later receives the keys to the city of New York for her work in Ireland, she gives them to the Black Panther Party. Frederick Douglas and O'Connell heavily influence each other's political thought and speak out in support of each other's cause. Marcus Garvey claims the color scheme of his movement reflects the struggle of various liberation moments of different races all over the world, including the Irish (Red for the reds of the world, green for the Irish struggle, and black for the African American, or, as he puts it at the time, the "Negro struggle." )Dooley's writing is lucid, engaging, and often narrative. As his innovative and perhaps contentious claims demand, Dooley's research is heavily documumented, often cites primary sources, and features hundreds of foot notes at the book's end. Educators and researchers may use this book with the confidence that they can ascertain with some degree of certainty the primary sources from which Dooley's arguments arise. Further, Dooley's writing is eminently accessible and multi-layered. I have used sections of chapters in my middle school classroom in the Bronx and cited Dooley extensively in papers for graduate school. _Black and Green_ is an invaluable resource for race studies, American or Irish history, and civil rights seminars.This book is essential reading for anyone interested in politics and civil rights generally. For those with a specific interest in the Northern Ireland or American civil rights movements of the 60s, this is one of the best books written on this subject.A very unique book that credibly draws parallels between the concurrent campaigns.Highly recommended.The key to understanding who the oppressed are and who the oppressors are is determined by looking at who the domestic workers are and for whom they work. Who is it that picks up after whom? Bernadette Devlin McAlisky's keen political sense with activists in the civil rights struggle and affluent Irish-Americans is very revealing. Catholic women pick up after Protestant families in Ireland. African-American women pick up after affluent Irish-American families in America. She felt more at home with members of The Black Panther Party than with these affluent Irish Americans. The support of the abolition struggle by Irish republicans such as Daniel O'Connell is of historic import. The support the Irish struggle by fighters such as Frederick Douglas and Marcus Garvey is also of historic interest. However, the interchange of tactics by both struggles is most revealing. The historic Belfast-Derry March in January 1969 was modeled after the Selma-Montgomery protest four earlier. The Montgomery bus boycott got its name from Captain Boycott an avaricious Irish landlord. Michael Farrell set up the Young Socialist Alliance in Ireland modeled after the Young Socialists Alliance in the United States. Black and Green has much more of interest for American understanding of the Irish struggle and is must reading for fighters struggling against oppression and bigotry.Fascinating and extremely useful.
