Overview

"Exiled from her beloved hometown of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Sybil Haydel Morial began to reflect upon her life-spanning one of the most critical periods in our nation's history-and began this remarkable memoir. From her unique vantage point, she was witness to sweeping changes-desegregation, the end of Jim Crow, the fight for voting rights and political empowerment-that transformed the country during her lifetime. Her story is both historical and personal: it is an an account of her own evolution as an African-American woman in the midst of tempests of social and familial change. By necessity and choice, Sybil, her late husband, Ernest ""Dutch"" Morial, and their five children became political activists-holding political offices, participating in landmark legal battles, and fighting for civil rights. Sybil chronicles her encounters with the leaders of the Movement, as well as proving a glimpse into her family's life in middle-class Black society during the Jim Crow era. Far from a simply a witness to this important era, Morial's own role is revealed in these pages. As Ambassador Andrew Young, a childhood friend and later Sybil's prom date, relates in his foreword: ""It is doubtful that New Orleans could have produced two mayors with the dynamic, creative, and visionary leadership of ""Dutch"" and Marc without a wife and mother of Sybil's loving strength, intelligence, and moral courage. But the life she lived in the crucible times and her perception of the civil rights movement in New Orleans goes far beyond that."""

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9780932112835

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Reviews

Teacher, civil rights leader, former first lady of New Orleans, Sybil Morial has given us in Witness to Change an elegantly written, deeply moving memoir of one of America's most beloved political families. Reading it is a history lesson in the revolutionary changes that a single generation of brave, publicly minded servants delivered for the uplift of all. It is, in short, a book about heroes, written by one. - Henry Louis Gates. A moving memoir recounts decades of profound change....In calm, measured prose, Morial offers a singular perspective on the frustrating road to social justice. - Kirkus Reviews. .. . a poignant story about family, race, dignity, and love. - Walter Isaacson.

Author Information

"SYBIL HAYDEL MORIAL is an educator, activist, and community leader in New Orleans, Louisiana. The wife of the first African American mayor of New Orleans, Ernest N. ""Dutch"" Morial, Sybil spent her career in the education field, first as a public school teacher and later as an administrator at Xavier University in New Orleans."

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