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The Lynching
The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan | Laurence Leamer
The New York Times bestselling author of The Kennedy Women chronicles the powerful and spellbinding true story of a brutal race-based killing in 1981 and subsequent trials that undid one of the most pernicious organizations in American historythe Ku Klux Klan. On a Friday night in March 1981 Henry Hays and James Knowles scoured the streets of Mobile in their car, hunting for a black man. The young men were members of Klavern 900 of the United Klans of America. They were seeking to retaliate after a largely black jury could not reach a verdict in a trial involving a black man accused of the murder of a white man. The two Klansmen found nineteen-year-old Michael Donald walking home alone. Hays and Knowles abducted him, beat him, cut his throat, and left his body hanging from a tree branch in a racially mixed residential neighborhood. Arrested, charged, and convicted, Hays was sentenced to deaththe first time in more than half a century that the state of Alabama sentenced a white man to death for killing a black man. On behalf of Michaels grieving mother, Morris Dees, the legendary civil rights lawyer and cofounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a civil suit against the members of the local Klan unit involved and the UKA, the largest Klan organization. Charging them with conspiracy, Dees put the Klan on trial, resulting in a verdict that would level a deadly blow to its organization. Based on numerous interviews and extensive archival research, The Lynching brings to life two dramatic trials, during which the Alabama Klans motives and philosophy were exposed for the evil they represent. In addition to telling a gripping and consequential story, Laurence Leamer chronicles the KKK and its activities in the second half the twentieth century, and illuminates its lingering effect on race relations in America today. The Lynching includes sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs.
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Lizpixie
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Pickpick

Bk12 of May & Bk1 of #20in4 #readathon is done! Read in ebook form on Scribd, a NF about the lynching of a young African American man in Alabama in 1981. After his killers were finally convicted, his mother brought a civil case which bankrupted one of the most powerful factions in the Klan in America. I learnt a lot more about the state of civil rights in the South & how the Klan was so intertwined with power & politics. Enraging but a must read👇

Cinfhen Well done 👍🏽 Hi 🙋🏼‍♀️ xx 3y
Lizpixie @Cinfhen hi Cindy!🙋🏻‍♀️How‘s things in your neck of the woods lately? I try not to watch the news anymore, it‘s too depressing🙇🏻‍♀️ 3y
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TheAromaofBooks Yay bingo!!!! 3y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa And 1981! What! That‘s insane, that isn‘t that long ago at all! 3y
Lizpixie @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I know right? I was shocked too, and at the fact I‘d never heard of it before. I would‘ve been 10yrs old when it happened, there‘s a heartbreaking picture of him in the tree & he‘s wearing the same pair of sneakers I had as a kid. And he was only 19😢 3y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Lizpixie I would have been 8, so right there with you! And yes, then they turn around and teach you all these struggles in high school about the Civil Rights Movement like it was all decades ago and long solved and over! 🙄 3y
48 likes7 comments
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Lizpixie
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I‘m kicking off this months #20in4 #readathon with the last 50% of this ebook NF about the lynching of a young African American man in Alabama in 1981 & the subsequent civil court case brought by his mother that bankrupted the biggest chapter of the Klan. So far it‘s been heartbreaking & enraging in turn. What are you starting your ‘thon on?

Andrew65 Sounds required reading! Good luck with the Readathon 👍 3y
37 likes1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
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Ta-da! It‘s my living #bookspinbingo card for March! 🥳 The tagged book is my #bookspin, appropriate since I came close to picking it up in February. And Rain is my #doublespin, appropriate since we get tons of rain here and our roof drain overflow pond overflowed from all the water this weekend! 💦💦💦

Let‘s get reading!

MatchlessMarie A work of art 💯 3y
TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! Looks great!! 3y
Librariana The fact that I was tagged made me smile and I felt so honored 🥰 Thanks, Holly! As always, it looks fantastic and I look forward to your reviews! 👏😁😊💜📚 3y
ChaoticMissAdventures I have The Removed on my March bingo card too! 3y
Hooked_on_books @Librariana I‘m so delighted by your enthusiasm over my bingo card method that I wanted to share it with you! 🤗 3y
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JoeMo
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Pickpick

This was a very informative read. It covered a great deal more than just the lynching of Michael Donald in 1981 and the subsequent court case. The author provided additional context by writing about the history of racism and of the KKK in Georgia during the civil rights movement. I highly recommend this title.

#doublespin
#bookspinbingo

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3y
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shmreads
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trippin' somewhere... full flight, midnight...

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Kristy_K
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Pickpick

Using the lynching of Michael Donald in 1981, The Lynching provides an overview of racism in Alabama in the second half of the 20th century. It‘s enraging, appalling, and sadly still relevant to how some issues are being handled today.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

#history #nonfiction #racism

72 likes3 stack adds
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Skyler
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Oof, this one is unsettling.

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TelevisionNeighbor
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Next up.

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BookishMarginalia
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Great deal! This book is on sale for $1.99 with additional Audible narration for $3.99 -- a perfect read for #BlackHistoryMonth https://www.amazon.com/Lynching-Epic-Courtroom-Battle-Brought-ebook/dp/B0151VIAK...

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Alisnazzy
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Pickpick

5🌟 A must read. It's divided into 3 parts: the lynching & subsequent criminal trial, a history of Alabama during the civil rights movement, and the civil case by the SPLC against the klan. Obviously it was rough at times, but with everything going on, it's important to understand the legal actions that can be taken against racism.

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Alisnazzy
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New Year's Eve rager: a little light reading and #kittenlitten cuddles. 😻😹

Texreader How adorable!! I spent a Iot of snuggle time with my kittenlitten tonight too. 😻 7y
MicheleinPhilly SAME. Minus the kitten cuddles. We're dog-sitting and watching Roseanne reruns. #PartyAnimals 7y
Megabooks 💕😻 7y
LeahBergen I want to read this! 7y
102 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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Alisnazzy
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SON OF A MOTHERLESS GOAT! Litsy you are an enabler! I get an email from the library saying my hold for Asking For It is in. I told myself that's all I would get, but then of course I had to stray to the new history section and lo and behold, I end up grabbing two more. #DamnitLitsy #CantStopWontStop 😅😅😅😅

itsbrb Son of a motherless goat 😭😭 7y
literarymermaid Those look amazing, can't wait to see your reviews! 7y
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DGRachel @Ambrosnazzy where is that phrase "son of a motherless goat" from? I say it all the time, and I obviously picked it up somewhere, but I've no idea where. ?? 7y
Alisnazzy @DGRachel Three Amigos! ☺️ 7y
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catatonic1242
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Mehso-so

I struggled. The first 100 and the last 100 pages were great. The middle section, which was almost entirely a biography of George Wallace, was out of place and slow. Felt like a book purporting to be about a lynching and a fight to bring down the KKK should have focused more on those things.

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Reagan
Pickpick

It is a fascinating read with a lot of information about the civil rights movement and the creation of the United Klans of America. Very interesting stuff, it made me realize how little I know about this period of time.

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Reagan
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I have a midterm tomorrow but I am so close to the end.

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BookishMarginalia
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Spending quality time at my happy place, The Bookmark! 💜💚💜

BookishMarginalia Btw, three of those are going home with me! :) 8y
26 likes1 comment
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ErinDecker
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"It hurt to see suffering. It hurt to see injustice. It hurt to see evil triumph. And when it didn't hurt, you were dead inside."