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Exploring 400 years of protest and resistance in US history—and what the unsung heroes of social movements past can teach us about navigating our chaotic world
In this timely new book in Beacon’s successful ReVisioning History series, professor Gloria Browne-Marshall delves into the history of protest movements and rebellion in the United States. Beginning with Indigenous peoples’ resistance to European colonization and continuing through to today’s climate change demonstrations, Browne-Marshall expands how to think about protest through sharing select historical moments and revealing the role of key players involved in those efforts.
Drawing upon legal documents, archival material, government documents and secondary sources, A Protest History of the United States gives voice to those who pushed back against the mistreatment of others, themselves, and in some instances planet Earth. Browne-Marshall highlights stories of individuals from all walks of life, backgrounds, and time periods who helped bring strong attention to their causes. Those stories include those of Wahunsenacock, more commonly known to history as Chief Powhatan, who took on English invaders in pre-colonial America in 1607; legendary boxer Muhammad Ali who refused to be inducted into the US military during the Vietnam era and appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court; and David Buckel, LGBTQ+ rights lawyer and environmental activist who protested against fossil fuels by committing self-immolation in 2018.
Regardless of whether these protests accomplished their end goals, Browne-Marshall reminds us that not only is dissent meaningful and impactful but is an essential tool for eliciting long lasting change.
About the Series
Beacon Press’s ReVisioning History series consists of accessibly written books by notable scholars that reconstruct and reinterpret US history from diverse perspectives.
“To Gloria Browne-Marshall, protest is primal and a prism through which she has exhaustively examined its resonance in American history. Her broad and insightful discussion of protest, from its most violent expression to the mere thrusting of one’s fist in the air, shows how it has been persistently at the core of the nation’s existence. She thoughtfully demonstrates that protest is essential to the origins of the US, an unbroken thread from the Powhatan to George Floyd.”
—Herb Boyd, American Book Award recipient and author of Black Detroit: A People’s History of Self-Determination
“We don’t often read history seeking hope, but in Gloria Browne-Marshall’s A Protest History of the United States, we find it in every exquisitely written chapter. Browne-Marshall’s extraordinary book chronicles the marginalized American heroes who, through overt and covert acts of rebellion, protested systemic injustice, cruelty, and greed. Through careful research, attentive examination, and innovative vision, Browne-Marshall has uncovered a national legacy of resistance and resilience we can believe in.”
—Erika Krouse, author of Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation
“Attentive to historical records, memoir, environmentalism, and the arts, legal scholar Gloria Browne-Marshall provides fervent affirmation of the many different groups, causes, and methods that comprise the protest tradition from our nation’s founding to today’s pursuit of a more perfect union.”
—Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
“‘Workers are the backbone of every nation’ is the important conclusion learned from Browne-Marshall’s insightful chapter about labor unions and how protesting workers have fought back after being denied decent job conditions and their right to organize unions. Still, as A Protest History of the United States shows, many companies don’t get it: workers never give up!”
—Stefan Löfven, former prime minister of Sweden and former president of the Swedish Industrial and Metal Workers Union