This light of ours : activist photographers of the civil rights movement / edited by Leslie G. Kelen ; essays by Julian Bond, Clayborne Carson, and Matt Herron ; text by Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-246) and index.

Photographing civil rights / Matt Herron -- Photographs -- pt. 1. Black life -- pt. 2. Organizing for freedom -- pt. 3. State and local terror -- pt. 4. Meredith march against fear and Black power -- How I first saw King and found the movement / Clayborne Carson -- The photographers : interviews and biographies -- Tamio Wakayama -- Herbert Randall -- Maria Varela -- George Ballis -- Bob Fitch -- Matt Herron -- Bob Fletcher -- David Prince -- Bob Adelman.

"This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement is a paradigm-shifting publication that presents the Civil Rights Movement through the work of nine activist photographers - men and women who chose to document the national struggle against segregation and other forms within the movement. Unlike images produced by photojournalists, who covered breaking news events, these photographers lived within the movement - and documented its activities by focusing on the student activists and local people who together made it happen. The core of the book is a selection of 151 black-and-white photographers Bob Adelman, George Ballis, Bob Fitch, Bob Fletcher, Matt Herron, David Prince, Herbert Randall, Maria Varela, and Tamio Wakayama. Images are grouped around four movement themes and convey SNCC's organizing strategies, resolve in the face of violence, impact on local and national politics, and influence on the nation's consciousness. The photographs and texts of This Light of Ours reminds us that the movement was a battleground, that the battle was successfully fought by thousands of "ordinary" Americans amongst whom were the nation's courageous youth, and that the movement's moral vision and impact continue to shape our lives."--Jacket.