| Sometimes It Causes Me to Tremble: A Journey into Fear, is a draft of a memoir which makes clear that civil rights struggles are not driven by the ghosts of decades past, but fueled by the contemporary effects of race hatred. This work of creative nonfiction is drawn from more than fifty interviews with blacks who were at least five years old in 1965 and shows that most African-American Baby-boomers use their hopes, religious faith and strength of character to thrive in their communities, despite the fear of violence and discrimination. The narrator seeks to understand a fear evident in among blacks from varied social, political and economic backgrounds. The exploration begins with reactions to the white racist hatred that spurred the brutal, August 1955 murder of Emmett Till and evolves into discussions of how many African Americans deal with the threat of racial violence and discrimination throughout their lives. As a participant observer, the author uses immersion journalism techniques to interrogate the long-term and ongoing effects of racism, violence and oppression on African Americans throughout the nation. |
