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Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution
Top of the pile
81
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
94/100Critics
67/100Scholars
Author:
John Archibald
Publisher:
Knopf
Date:
March 9, 2021
Born in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, the son of an Alabama preacher reflects on the silence of his otherwise morally upright father and the larger white Southern Christian church in the face of racist discrimination and police brutality against Black people rallying for rights.
What The Reviewers Say
His poignant reflections involve asking himself who he is, and who he would like to be. Archibald recognizes the inherent problems with judging another man in another time and also of his own moments of silence, but argues that studying the hypocrisy of the past is how change can occur today.
... a fascinating blend of family memoir and moral reckoning.
... the author brings readers back into horrifying moments broadcast world-wide of Black children and teenagers being sprayed with fire hoses. His reflections leave the author with a recognition of the weaknesses of men and a new understanding of his complex feelings toward his father.
... a complex, fraught exploration.
