The Long Haul: An Autobiography [B2220]

2010 PB an 18th printing of the 1998 original, in nice condition EXCEPT for extensive highlighting of text. In his own direct, modest, plain-spoken style, Myles Horton (1905-1990)) tells the story of the Highlander Folk School*. A major catalyst for social change in the United States for more than 70 years, this school has touched the lives of so many people, including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Pete Seeger. Filled with disarmingly honest insight and gentle humor, The Long Haul is an inspiring hymn to the possibility of social change. It is the story of Myles Horton: the wise and moving recollections of a man of uncommon determination and vision.

"Few people I know have seen as much change in the American South, or helped to bring it about, as Myles Horton. He (was) beaten up, locked up, put upon, and railed against by racists, toughs, demagogues, and governors. But for more than 50 years...he (went) on with his special kind of teaching―helping people to discover within themselves the courage and ability to confront reality and to change it." ―Bill Moyers. "Horton's story is an entire American Studies sequence in political courage." ― The New York Times.

*The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in Tennessee. The school was founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West, and Methodist minister James A. Dombrowski.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A must read. There's so much anyone can take away from this. But the simple principle is: everyday people can come together to solve their problems cooperatively. As someone who has played the role of educator and an organizer, and who has done community engagement, this book has been immensely helpful in reflecting on my own work and my relation to others. The read is especially pertinent for looking at where we come from and where we are going as a country. It renewed, strangely enough, a sense of duty to others and to the US - not as a nation or a symbol with a flag, but as a collection of my neighbors and an ideal of democracy, liberty, and justice.";

"Wow. I went to a training weekend at Highlander a while back without knowing this rich history. Now I'm so glad to be a part of it!"; "Direct and clear and wry autobiography of the ideas behind Highlander Folk School, and its role in catalyzing movements for social justice from labor organizing into the early civil rights projects. Pragmatically radical insight on education & learning, power, solidarity, violence, humility.";

"This book feels like sitting around a campfire listening to inspiring stories and lessons learned from a movement/organizing elder. It's striking how much history Horton (and the Highlander Center he founded) has lived through and created/initiated in service of social movements regionally, nationally and internationally. I so appreciated how Horton writes in such an accessible way while holding such strong and principled politics - we need that deeply in our work now! I'm more grateful than ever to have spent some time at Highlander; Learning from their participatory and democratic approach to education and organizing has shaped me."