History Teaches Us to Resist: How Progressive Movements Have Succeeded in Challenging Times

by Mary Frances Berry Narrated by Janina Edwards

Overview

Historian and civil rights activist proves how progressive movements can flourish even in conservative times.

Despair and mourning after the election of an antagonistic or polarizing president, such as Donald Trump, is part of the push-pull of American politics. But in this incisive book, historian Mary Frances Berry shows that resistance to presidential administrations has led to positive change and the defeat of outrageous proposals, even in challenging times. Noting that all presidents, including ones considered progressive, sometimes require massive organization to affect policy decisions, Berry cites Indigenous peoples' protests against the Dakota pipeline during Barack Obama's administration as a modern example of successful resistance built on earlier actions.

Beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Berry discusses that president's refusal to prevent race discrimination in the defense industry during World War II and the subsequent March on Washington movement. She analyzes Lyndon Johnson, the war in Vietnam, and the antiwar movement and then examines Ronald Reagan's two terms, which offer stories of opposition to reactionary policies, such as ignoring the AIDS crisis and retreating on racial progress, to show how resistance can succeed.

The prochoice protests during the George H. W. Bush administration and the opposition to Bill Clinton's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, as well as his budget cuts and welfare reform, are also discussed, as are protests against the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act during George W. Bush's presidency. Throughout these varied examples, Berry underscores that even when resistance doesn't achieve all the goals of a particular movement, it often plants a seed that comes to fruition later.

Berry also shares experiences from her six decades as an activist in various movements, including protesting the Vietnam War and advocating for the Free South Africa and civil rights movements, which provides an additional layer of insight from someone who was there. And as a result of having served in five presidential administrations, Berry brings an insider's knowledge of government.

History Teaches Us to Resist is an essential book for our times which attests to the power of resistance. It proves to us through myriad historical examples that protest is an essential ingredient of politics, and that progressive movements can and will flourish, even in perilous times.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2018
Berry, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and a past chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, examines six historic movements that generated widespread resistance to the status quo. Among them are those against the Vietnam War, against the reactionary policies of the Reagan administration, and against South African apartheid; the book also includes a recounting of various protests during the presidencies of G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush. The book is most thought-provoking when Berry utilizes the knowledge she gained through her work in the antiapartheid and civil rights movements. Her accounts of various protest strategies, including such nonviolent forms of civil disobedience as “marches, sit-ins, hunger strikes, and acts of guerrilla theater,” provide a catalogue of the many avenues open to activists. Berry also makes clear that political action is only one mechanism for change and that political movements can be greatly affected by federal court decisions. She briefly touches on 21st-century activism and offers little discussion of how social media fits into current progressive action. This isn’t a how-to book for progressives, but an exemplar of past work; Berry effectively combines her roles as historian and activist to show how previous achievements of social justice were won and to encourage future activists. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

A well-informed handbook of effective resistance.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Berry effectively combines her roles as historian and activist to show how previous achievements of social justice were won and to encourage future activists.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Mary Frances Berry’s History Teaches Us to Resist could not have arrived at a better moment . . . . Berry reminds us that in learning from the past and building on it, we should not hold our breaths but always hold out hope.”
—Black Perspectives

“This is a superb essay on the role of activism during times that the political climate did not favor reform . . . written with flair and immediacy.”
—CHOICE

“Dr. Mary Frances Berry provides an essential book for our troubled times and reminds us that ‘past is prologue.’ Every progressive activist and lawyer will want to pore over the engrossing behind-the-scenes details of the accounts in this book to learn how activists navigated reactionary periods in American political life. History Teaches Us to Resist is an encouraging reminder that, with strategic discipline, progressives have always found creative ways to advance the work of justice and equality—even in the worst of times.”
—Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

“As every day brings more news of the Trump administration’s unprecedented assaults on democracy, millions of Americans veer between the horror of utter defeat and magical thinking that our institutions will save us. In her characteristic no-nonsense style, Mary Frances Berry teaches us that power is never absolute and that democracy is not self-correcting. With a historian’s field of vision and a veteran activist’s understanding of tactics and strategy, Berry excavates how resistance to some of the most powerful men in modern America shaped the freedom struggles that have benefited us all—and in so doing provides a crucial road map for the work that lies ahead.”
—Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

“At this excruciating moment of crisis and looming catastrophe, Mary Frances Berry reminds us that our most powerful weapon in the struggle ahead is simply us. This is a book of hard-won lessons and real inspiration, something to read and then keep in your backpack for ready reference as we take to the streets and mobilize to storm the heavens.”
—William Ayers, author of “You Can’t Fire the Bad Ones!” and 18 Other Myths About Teachers, Teachers’ Unions, and Public Education

“A powerful, timely, and necessary read about resistance during hostile times.”
—Dante Barry, cofounder and executive director, Million Hoodies Movement for Justice

“I can imagine no one more qualified than Dr. Mary Frances Berry to write this crucially needed and powerful book. As an award-winning historian, as someone with firsthand experience serving in multiple presidential administrations, and as an activist for over fifty years in movements ranging from civil rights and anti–Vietnam War protest to Free South Africa and LGBTQ rights, to name a few, Berry has exceptional experience and vital knowledge about creating resistance movements. We need to listen, learn, and act.”
—Anthony D. Romero, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

Berry explores progressive resistance in the time period between FDR’s and George W. Bush's presidencies. He articulates the powerful ways social justice movements have pushed their agendas further and refused to abandon advances in human rights. Janina Edwards narrates in a firm, direct voice that also adjusts for the more emotional aspects of the audiobook such as the violence, negligence, and other harm perpetrated upon vulnerable populations. Equally important, Edwards conveys the conviction and the hope of Berry's prose as progressives move from decade to decade, exploring ever-present social tension as they seek recognition and respect for all people. Overall, Berry’s work provides a meaningful and important history for those in need of hope and a blueprint for how progressives can continue their fight. L.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-11-28
A brief survey from the front lines of resistance by an author whose experience gives her a variety of perspectives.Now a distinguished academic, Berry (American Social Thought/Univ. of Pennsylvania; Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy, 2016, etc.) began her activism as a college protestor during the Vietnam War and a journalist covering it for her university newspaper. She was fired by President Ronald Reagan from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and later named by President Bill Clinton to chair it. Though she writes like a historian studying political resistance, Berry benefits from her experience both inside and outside the government, working through different channels and with grass-roots movements as well. What she offers here is less a polemical broadside than a measured, matter-of-fact account of how resistance has pushed social movements forward and aided progress in movements including civil rights, war protest, pro-abortion rights, disabilities, gay rights, and so many others, despite consistent Republican efforts to "turn back the clock." The author discusses Franklin Roosevelt's support for segregation and how a planned March on Washington found organizers warned by Eleanor "that following through with the demonstration could precipitate a reactionary rollback of unspecified civil rights gains that she attributed to her husband's administration." That experience paid belated dividends with the civil rights marches of the 1960s. Berry goes light on demonizing Richard Nixon, whom she praises for establishing relations with China as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. She also argues that Clinton pretty much got a free pass from the left: "he had the advantages of personality and his party identification, and after the Reagan and Bush years, progressives and liberals were tolerant and glad to have a ‘friendly' president in office." A short coda on the many challenges of the Trump era restates what she plainly sees as the obvious: "None of these battles is over….Much resistance work still needs to be done."More of a well-informed handbook of effective resistance than a call to arms.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172051999
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/13/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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