Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution

Archibald, a Pulitzer-winning columnist for the Birmingham News, looks back at his sheltered Dixie childhood during the civil rights era in his captivating debut. As the son of a Methodist preacher, Archibald witnessed history through the passive eyes of his father, Rev. Robert Archibald, who “preached of stewardship” to his congregation in 1960s Birmingham, “where black people hold a political and physical majority and hold desperately to economic scraps,” without once mentioning race, justice, or protests. What makes this retelling exceptional is the poetic voice of the author as he reflects on the Montgomery bus boycott, the bloody campaigns in Selma and Birmingham, lynchings, and the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. “Images of real sacrifice run through my head in black-and-white newsreels... I see the blood spatter from MLK and Malcolm X... and Viola Liuzzo after the march from Selma to Montgomery. Nobody—no family—should have to sacrifice like that.” While the nation erupted in racial discord, his father and other white Southern pastors ignored the mayhem in a “conspiracy of silence.” It wasn’t until his father died that Archibald, then in his fifties, truly faced the injustices of his childhood. “Why have a pulpit if you will not use your voice in all the ways you can?” This personal interrogation is a moving testament to the power of reexamining one’s past. (Mar.)