The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism

Mark Morrison-Reed's book, THE SELMA AWAKENING, should wake up Americans. Although the book is largely concerned with the Unitarian Universalist actions and inactions relating to racism (Morrison-Reed is a retired UU minister), the story of Selma and the US treatment of minorities applies to all of humanity, whether religious or not. This book focuses on the white and black populations, and barely mentions the Civil War. It need not go into the vulgarities of the Civil War, but rather the attitude of most Southerners and many Northern patriots.The end of the book is worth the price on its own, with its postlude, not only on Selma but the intellectual and human attitudes of whites...it's poetic. It may not make a Unitarian Universalist out of the reader (nor was that the author's intention, I suspect), but it can't help but expose the perfidy of US attitudes toward our black population.

The book starts with some background on the UU religion's history regarding race. This might be a little dry to some but was very revealing to me. The disconnect between intentions and actions was amazing. Those who may think the background vague should hold on because the stories quickly become compelling. The way that people pulled together and literally put everything on the line is inspiring and perhaps a little depressing because it is so hard to imagine that sort of commitment being so widespread today. I strongly recommend this book and next month when I walk across the Pettus bridge on the 50th anniversary, I know I will feel the presence of the men and women described in this book.

Mark Morrison-Rees does a thorough job describing the position of the UUA as far as its professed values go, but also shows how its actions were not always congruent with those values---His listing of all the participants in the Selma Awakening seem to go on for a long time, and I could have done with little less detail.--He does not whitewash the movement, (the UUA) and even goes so far as to overly-criticize it, in my mind.

As with all of Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed’s books, if you want to understand how Unitarian Universalism got where it is, he has thoroughly researched answers and offers a call to how we can transform ourselves emotionally and spiritually with that knowledge.

The need to speak to our personal injuries to POC in our faith was clearly and honestly handled. Bravo Mark MR

I was on the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Mark has done a great job in this account of this important event

Mark is a friend. I resonate with his story, and can't be objective, so I'll try to be objective with one star short.

This book taught me a lot about the events of the 60s in regards to the march of Selma, but, unfortunately, it was not well written. Still I am glad that I read it because I learned a lot about a very important event in history.