Charles E. Cobb, Jr Delivers More Than A History Lesson

Charles E. Cobb, Jr., author of "On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail," arrives in Durham, North Carolina. Cobb is a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He has reported for NPR, Frontline, National Geographic and WHUR Radio in Washington, D.C. He is also a senior writer for AllAfrica.com and the coauthor of “Radical Equations.”

A chat with author Charles E. Cobb Jr.
The Durham Marriott at the Civic Center is located in the heart of downtown Durham. The hotel lobby becomes the ideal spot to discuss the heart of this great book, the Civil Rights Movement, with its author.

"On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail" was released on January 15, 2008, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cobb chooses this date because "King is not only important to the Civil Rights Movement, he was the center of the movement."

Cobb says that if he could visit only one place on the Civil Rights Trail it would be Alabama. "Alabama is the host of marked Civil Rights sites," says Cobb. "Here was the beginning of grass roots organizations - the idea of civil rights community organizing versus public protests. In Montgomery, Alabama, Martin Luther King, Jr. shows us two sides of himself, both as a family man and that of a young minister."

There is little argument that churches shaped the Civil Rights Movement. Cobb reveals that in a racist society, there are limited opportunities. "The church is the one institution that black people controlled. Churches had two purposes – that of a religious mission and a social mission," he says. Churches supported the Civil Rights Movement, but the spark that started it all was slavery.

Booklovers at the Regulator Bookshop
The eclectic Regulator Bookshop, located on Ninth Street in Durham, North Carolina, is host to numerous readings by authors and poets. This bookstore first opened its doors on December 4, 1976. It continues to provide a pleasant forum for book lovers. A cozy stage, located downstairs, is where people, authors and books come together. Tonight, readers descend these stairs to share the book, “On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail” with author Charles E. Cobb Jr.

"Stay here and do something"
Cobb grew up in segregated Washington, D.C. He remembers his involvement in sit-ins at the age of 18. As a freshman, he had only read about Freedom Rides, and ironically, Cobb ended up in jail. It was in jail where he heard about the Student Non-Violent Committee located in Albany, Georgia. And later, at the age of 19, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) invited him to attend a Civil Rights Leader Workshop in Houston, Texas. According to Cobb, he never made it to Houston; but instead he was enticed with a direct challenge for him to stay in Mississippi: "Stay here and do something." He stayed for almost five years in a state that was defined by the murder of Emmett Till.

Women and the Civil Rights Movement
The popularity of heritage tourism's emerged after the Civil Rights Movement. Interests vary from slavery to ancestry. And according to author Charles E. Cobb, Jr., the ‘60s help uproot the attention of black history and voting rights issues.

This engrossing and factual book highlights the leadership of women in the Southern Civil Rights Movement. Cobb says that in all critical mentions, you will find the leadership of women. And secondly, the book clearly demonstrates how the Atlanta student sit-ins changed the course of U.S. politics by swinging tens of thousands of black votes to John Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.

Several important women come to mind when Cobb speaks of the southern Civil Rights Movement. Ella Josephine Baker was SCLC's (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) the first and temporary executive director. She influenced almost a half century of civil rights struggle. Baker spoke to Martin Luther King about the importance of sit-ins and asked him to come up to North Carolina. King came, along with Ralph Abernathy. King spoke at mass meeting in Durham. He acknowledged the importance of students and he issued a public call to fill up jails.

Marian Anderson, a black contralto, was denied the right to sing at Lincoln Memorial. "This was the first national manifestation to opposition against racial discrimination; and the Civil Rights saga begins," says Cobb. “It was a mass demonstration, not merely a protest, in support of Marian Anderson and in support of the idea that race should not trump ability.”

More than a history lesson
"On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail" is more than just a recollection of an important "movement," it is also an examination of "the idea of and the pursuit of freedom." Cobb pens a unique travel guide and a great reference manual on civil rights history. He dissects the perils, privileges and the high cost of freedom in nine southern states, from Washington, D.C. to Tennessee.

Milestones include Bloody Sunday, the trial of Emmett Till, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter written from a Birmingham jail and the assassination of King in Memphis, Tennessee. Many monuments, museums and sites documented on the civil rights trail emerged as a result of these tumultuous events.

Vivid photographs depict significant people, places and events of the civil rights era. Telling portraits include those of a slave auction house in Atlanta and the Selma-to-Montgomery march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Witness the powerful photos of protesters refusing bail; the proud stance of activist Gloria Richardson; and the McComb high school students campaigning for the right to vote.

Share the speeches, maps, photos and historic sites on this eventful journey and savor a valuable history lesson.