Book Review: Troublemakers
The right to assembly and protest is one of the oldest and most noble American traditions. From King Street and the Boston Harbor in the 1770’s to the first Women’s March in 2017, Americans have taken their voices to the streets when quieter measures have failed. From the Civil War to the streets of Montgomery, men and women have faced the ugliest of human prejudices to build a better nation. The fight for equality has shaped American history like no other force. In his new book, Troublemakers: Chicago Freedom Struggles through the Lens of Art Shay, Erik S. Gellman examines the often-overlooked turmoil in Chicago in the sixties.
The first thing that a reader should understand when approaching Troublemakers is that it’s more a textbook than a coffee table book. As a collection of revealing photographs, it’s an essential look into a part of history that is often glossed over in favor of more famous accounts of the battle for civil rights. Less can be said for the written narrative that ties the photographs together. Often the pictures lack captions and context within the surrounding paragraphs that would make their inclusion as substantial as it could be. The writing is dense and crammed with so many statistics and dates that there’s little room for the style or flair that a history this rich deserves in its telling.
That being said, those looking for an academic account of Chicago’s civil rights journey will not be disappointed. Gellman knows his stuff inside and out and he generously invites you to climb the ladder to his level of expertise Troublemakers spares no pains in ensuring that the reader gains the most comprehensive perspective possible of the goings-on in the Chicago civil rights movement. Take the account he provides for the rise of McCarthyism, for instance. The average reader would be hard-pressed to connect the dots between Joe McCarthy and civil unrest along racial lines, but Gellman does so handily. His commitment to plumbing the depths of the decade begs the questions: what other events are related that previously seemed distant? Fortunately, Gellman is only too happy to spend as long on that question as the reader would like.
Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words and the associated commentary of the book wouldn’t be nearly as impactful without the numerous photographs that steal the show. Above a crowd of white youth, one young black man stands above, waving a flag and proclaiming a doctrine for all to hear. In the eye of the storm, a preacher offers a prayer for a crowd on their knees. In times like these, every ally counts. Though nothing demanded a louder outcry than the fight for the civil rights of African Americans, counter-war protests dot many of Troublemakers’ pages as well. Smoke and signs and fires fill the pages of the late sixties, clouding the future of a nation in turmoil. Fortunately, when the dust settles in the final pages, you get the sense that Chicago will land on its feet. After all, though the sixties have passed, the story of Chicago is anything but complete. It’ll take a little more trouble and a lot more makers to finish what the pioneers in this book started.
