Civil Rights for Beginners

Civil Rights for Beginners provides an accessible overview for grades 7+ of the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

Author Paul Von Blum documents the roots of the activism of the 1950s and 60s and earlier instances of Black resistance to racial oppression from slavery through Jim Crow.

Blum also explores the civil rights and liberation movements from the 60s to the present that the African American freedom struggles helped to catalyze including the Chicano Movement, the American Indian Movement, the Asian-American Movement, the Women’s Movement, and the Gay Liberation Movement.

We recommend this book as a useful reference or resource guide for students studying 20th century U.S. history.

Credit: By Paul Von Blum. Illustrated by Frank Reynoso. Published by For Beginners, 2016.