Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Mara Rockliff (Author) R Gregory Christie (Illustrator)
An inspiring picture-book biography about the woman whose cooking helped feed and fund the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956, from an award-winning illustrator.
Georgia Gilmore was cooking when she heard the news Mrs. Rosa Parks had been arrested--pulled off a city bus and thrown in jail all because she wouldn't let a white man take her seat. To protest, the radio urged everyone to stay off city buses for one day: December 5, 1955. Throughout the boycott--at Holt Street Baptist Church meetings led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.--and throughout the struggle for justice, Georgia served up her mouth-watering fried chicken, her spicy collard greens, and her sweet potato pie, eventually selling them to raise money to help the cause.
Here is the vibrant true story of a hidden figure of the civil rights movement, told in flavorful language by a picture-book master, and stunningly illustrated by a Caldecott Honor recipient and seven-time Coretta Scott King award-winning artist.
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Publishers Weekly
This mouthwatering motivational picture book centers Georgia Gilmore (1920-1990), a Black cook in Montgomery, Ala., who raised money through food sales to help support transport costs and cover fines for those participating in the Montgomery bus boycott. Rockliff relays the narrative in a smooth, easy-to-read style: "And if they couldn't find a seat--well, even standing up, they found the spare ribs and the stuffed bell peppers tasted just as good." Caldecott Honoree Christie offers realistic portraits of figures, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Gilmore herself, rendered in saturated gouache hues. This food-related profile ("A boycott! Something was cooking in Montgomery, and not just Georgia's black-eyed peas") succeeds in spotlighting a force who helped fuel the civil rights movement. Back matter includes more about Gilmore, an author's note, and sources. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Civil rights workers
20th century
Social conditions
Alabama
Montgomery
Montgomery (Ala.)
African American civil rights workers
Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Ala., 195
Gilmore, Georgia
Alambama
Civil right workers
