M. J. O'Brien is an independent writer who lives and works in Fairfax, Virginia. He is a graduate of American University's School of Communication, Washington, D.C. This is his first book.
"I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading Mike O'Brien's
book about the Woolworth Sit-in in Jackson. I thought I knew that
story pretty well, but soon realized that Mike (not a professional
historian) had done about ten times the research I had done on
Jackson, the Movement, Medgar Evers, the Kennedy Administration,
the Citizens' Council, local black leadership--you name it. This
book is full of new information and insights. And it is beautifully
written, from the narrative of the sit-in itself to the detailed
descriptions of the major players. This book will work especially
well in undergraduate courses, either on the Movement or in U.S.
survey courses."--John Dittmer, author of Local People: The
Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi and many other works
"It's all here: solid research, relevant history, honed prose.
Masterpiece is not too grand a word to describe the excellence of
M. J. O'Brien's enduring work."--Colman McCarthy, former columnist
for the Washington Post and now director, Center for Teaching
Peace, Washington, D.C.
"Michael O'Brien has written a detailed history and fascinating
study of one of the iconic moments of the modern civil rights
movement and the powerful effect it had. . . . Avoiding the
triumphalism of most civil rights history, O'Brien shows the human
weaknesses common to us all, analyzing the emotions and maneuvering
that characterized some of civil rights history. Readers will enjoy
this behind-the-scenes look at an important event in movement
history."--From the foreword by Julian Bond, chairman emeritus,
NAACP
"The book . . . easily draws the reader into the emotion, tragedy,
and messiness of movement activity. O'Brien neatly dissects an
iconic moment encapsulated by photographer Fred Blackwell's image
of the Jackson Woolworth's sit-in on May 28, 1963, showing a mob of
white youth pouring condiments and insults on the seated
protesters. He then moves from the previous sit-in demonstrations
in Jackson to the immediate and long-term reverberations of the
three-hour ordeal the activists endured that day. O'Brien rubs off
some of the movement's gilt by narrating intra-movement struggles
that thwarted cohesiveness among activists when segregationists
frustrated their attempts at every turn, then killed their most
visible leader, NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers, two weeks after
the sit-in. He does this by collating biographical narratives of
the subjects of the photograph, both the abused and their abusers,
as well as those--from Evers and the journalists and photographers
to the police and politicians--not in the photograph but who helped
to frame the scene."O'Brien uses this image to spin a sophisticated
and effective narrative focused on the planning and aftermath of
this incident that publicly showcased such vitriolic displays of
human hatred. He helps us understand why the participants' paths
crossed in Woolworth's that day, what that meeting did to them, and
how they made sense of it afterward, complicating the factors that
can drive, feed, and impede a movement. By contrasting the ugliness
and human weaknesses on both sides with the bravery and fortitude
of a few, O'Brien has crafted a beautifully written text that
transcends the local story with a simple, effective, and appealing
structure that will lend itself to the many other movement
campaigns with equally iconic images."O'Brien's writing reflects
his journalistic skills--he knows how to tell a story, and how to
analyze images, interview his subjects, and craft tight prose that
engages readers and elicits empathy for those on both sides. By
structuring the book through the dissection of an image, he
provides a lesson in how to "read" photographs and weigh the
cultural, historical, and political significance of an image by
understanding the individuals pictured, those the photographer
chose not to frame, and the photographer himself."--Franҫoise N.
Hamlin, American Historical Review (June 2014)
"We have all seen the photograph. Three weary protesters, wearing
milkshakes and mustard, sit stoically as dozens of young white men
gleefully harass them at a Jackson, Mississippi, Woolworth's lunch
counter. The picture, taken by twenty-two-year-old Jackson Daily
News photographer Fred Blackwell, captures the chaos of the May
1963 confrontation. . . .This extraordinary image inspired M. J.
O'Brien's meticulously researched exploration of the tumultuous
period of protest that engulfed Jackson for several weeks. A
corporate communications executive with a passion for research,
O'Brien spent two decades tracking down and interviewing more than
three dozen protesters and their antagonists, including the
reclusive Anne Moody, the unrepentant segregationist D. C.
Sullivan, and a transformed Fred Blackwell in one of his only
interviews about the picture. . . .O'Brien's interviews provide a
richness of detail that will surprise and enlighten even those
scholars intimately familiar with the Mississippi movement. . .
.[S]cholars and lay readers alike will find much to learn and enjoy
in this book. O'Brien's labor of love has produced a fascinating
account of this important civil rights story."--Chris Myers Asch,
Journal of Southern History (Volume LXXX, No. 3; August 2014)
"With exhaustive research conducted over a decade, O'Brien
interviewed many of the participants and utilized archival
materials, films, and secondary sources. . . .Part biography, part
traditional history, We Shall Not Be Moved is a welcome addition to
an expanding field of local movement studies."--Tony Gass, The
Journal of African American History
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