Reviews for Special moments in African-American history, 1955-1996

The average rating for Special moments in African-American history, 1955-1996 based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-09-28 00:00:00 Joseph Rolli This book was purchased with great expectation that Moneta Sleet, Jr. was the photographer of the cover photograph on the November 10, 1955, issue of Jet Magazine. The photograph featured a 12-year-old, Gloria Lockerman holding a black doll. Miss Lockerman was the then recent winner of the $64,000 Question game show. As a black-doll enthusiast and historian, my interest in buying this book was chiefly focused on obtaining the identification of the doll. Unfortunately, the photograph and information about it were not included in Special Moments in African-American History, which focuses on the photographic works of Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography-winner, Moneta Sleet, Jr. Readers may not know the man, who behind cameras for 41 years captured outstanding photographs for Ebony Magazine columns such as “Date with a Dish.” However, his photographs (particularly the cover photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King, as she comforts her restless daughter, Bernice King during King's memorial services) either have or will become engraved in readers’ memories for time immemorial. Written three years posthumous in the voice of Moneta Sleet, Jr., the color and black and white photos and their captions introduce readers to the man, his photographic genius, his love for family and mankind, and his life’s work. His captured moments of African American historical events, such as the funerals of Dr. King and Malcolm X, photographs of entertainers and dignitaries, allow Sleet and his subjects to live forever. Although I am still searching for the identity of the black doll held by Gloria Lockerman, I thoroughly enjoyed this coffee table-style book that chronicles the life work of a remarkably talented African American photographer.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-18 00:00:00 Timothy Sullivan While I've written about many photographic catalogs and collections, but this title seems particularly appropriate in this 50th anniversary year of the Freedom Riders’ initial forays into the South; the foreword by Julian Bond, whom I saw just last night on CNN discussing Obama and Black Liberation Theology--i.e. Rev. Jeremiah Wright--offers a beautifully written and wrenching foreword, and as for other recommendations, who am I to argue with what follows, especially after having learned some of the more amusingly determined aspects of Congressman Lewis's character in Endesha Ida Mae Holland's memoir ()? A not “In the summer of 1962, Danny Lyon packed a Nikon Reflex and an old Leica in an army bag and hitchhiked south. Within a week he was in jail in Albany, Georgia, looking through the bars at another prisoner, Martin Luther King, Jr. Lyon soon became the first staff photographer for the Atlanta-based Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which already had a reputation as one of the most committed and confrontational groups fighting for civil rights. "This young white New Yorker came South with a camera and a keen eye for history. And he used these simple, elegant gifts to capture the story of one of the most inspiring periods in America’s twentieth century." - US Congressman, John Lewis