Proverb Masters

Proverb Masters: Shaping the Civil Rights Movement argues that several individuals who possessed exceptional proficiency in the use of proverbs and proverbial language used this important skill to further civil rights causes. The text focuses on influential people whose ideas pertaining to social justice flourished throughout the long Civil Rights Era (the early 1900s through the 1970s). These figures include: Ida B. Wells, Charles W. Chesnutt, A. Philip Randolph, Bob Dylan, Septima P. Clark, Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael. It draws from ample scholarship from the field of peremiology and a wide corpus of historical research. The proverbs, sayings, and proverbial expressions are derived from an extensive array of source material including: diaries, autobiographies, biographies, interviews, letters, speeches, and songs. Proverb Masters illustrates that an individual’s values, beliefs, and worldview may be understood by analyzing the proverbs, sayings, and proverbial expressions frequented by them throughout their lives. A key feature of the book is that it emphasizes the essential role that proverbs and proverbial language played in promoting civil rights causes, arguing that they ultimately unified people for the common cause of social justice. Another important feature of this work is that the proverbs, proverbial expressions, and sayings that are included in the text are carefully contextualized, meaning ample consideration is given to all of the circumstances surrounding the historical moment in which they are used. As a result, readers are presented with a unique interpretation of American and Civil Rights history.