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My Life in Civil Rights
by Dovey Johnson Roundtree , Katie McCabe
Book Reviewed by:"Dovey Johnson Roundtree set a new path for women and proved that the vision and perseverance of a single individual can turn the tides of history." —Michelle Obama
In Mighty Justice, trailblazing African American civil rights attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree recounts her inspiring life story that speaks movingly and urgently to our racially troubled times. From the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, to the segregated courtrooms of the nation's capital; from the male stronghold of the army where she broke gender and color barriers to the pulpits of churches where women had waited for years for the right to minister—in all these places, Roundtree sought justice.
At a time when African American attorneys had to leave the courthouses to use the bathroom, Roundtree took on Washington's white legal establishment and prevailed, winning a 1955 landmark bus desegregation case that would help to dismantle the practice of "separate but equal" and shatter Jim Crow laws.
Later, she led the vanguard of women ordained to the ministry in the AME Church in 1961, merging her law practice with her ministry to fight for families and children being destroyed by urban violence.
Largely unknown to most Americans, trailblazing African American civil rights attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree broke color and gender barriers in courtrooms, the U.S. Army, and churches before dying at the age of 104 in 2018. Her inspiring life story speaks movingly and urgently to our troubled times.
The behind-the-scenes descriptions of the courtroom battles against Jim Crow and segregation were fascinating, yet the entire story is told with such warmth that it reads like a novel (Sally H). Mighty Justice is a well written, well researched and powerful book (Susan U). Once you start to read her biography you won't be able to put it down. It's very readable and very fast-paced, especially her descriptions of the courtroom scenes (Joan V). This book would make an excellent selection for any book group, as the issues contained in it are still prevalent in society today. Great story! (Diane H)...continued
Full Review
(668 words)
(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Dovey Mae Johnson Roundtree was an African American civil rights activist and attorney who secured one of the most significant victories against Jim Crow segregation, and broke the color barrier of the Women's Bar in Washington D.C. She also served in the Women's Auxiliary Corps during World War II and, in 1961, became one of a select few female ordained ministers in the African Methodist Episcopalian Church. Yet when she passed away at the age of 104 in 2018, her name was largely unknown. The re-release of her memoir (first published in 2009 under the title Justice Older Than the Law), now titled Mighty Justice and co-written with award-winning journalist Katie McCabe, seeks to rectify that lapse in the public consciousness.
Roundtree ...
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Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, USAF (Ret.), president, Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation
To read how Dovey Roundtree struggled to help others and to make a difference in our world is exalting. This book tells what one determined, unstoppable woman did with her life to change laws and traditions to make America a better, fairer, and more respectful country.
