Stars for Freedom

Regular price €107.99
50-100
A01=Emilie Raymond
African American Studies
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Author_Emilie Raymond
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BGF
Category=DNBF
Category=HBTB
Category=JBSL
Category=JFSL4
Category=NHTB
Civil Rights
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Language_English
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Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
softlaunch
United States History

Product details

  • ISBN 9780295994802
  • Weight: 612g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 01 May 2015
  • Publisher: University of Washington Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days

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From Oprah Winfrey to Angelina Jolie, George Clooney to Leonardo DiCaprio, Americans have come to expect that Hollywood celebrities will be outspoken advocates for social and political causes. However, that wasn’t always the case. As Emilie Raymond shows, during the civil rights movement the Stars for Freedom - a handful of celebrities both black and white - risked their careers by crusading for racial equality, and forged the role of celebrity in American political culture.



Focusing on the “Leading Six” trailblazers - Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dick Gregory, and Sidney Poitier - Raymond reveals how they not only advanced the civil rights movement in front of the cameras, but also worked tirelessly behind the scenes, raising money for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legal defense, leading membership drives for the NAACP, and personally engaging with workaday activists to boost morale.



Through meticulous research, engaging writing, and new interviews with key players, Raymond traces the careers of the Leading Six against the backdrop of the movement. Perhaps most revealing is the new light she sheds on Sammy Davis, Jr., exploring how his controversial public image allowed him to raise more money for the movement than any other celebrity. The result is an entertaining and informative book that will appeal to film buffs and civil rights historians alike, as well as to anyone interested in the rise of celebrity power in American society.

A Capell Family Book

A V Ethel Willis White Book

Emilie Raymond is associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is the author of "From My Cold, Dead Hands": Charlton Heston and American Politics.