Knocking at Our Own Door

Clarence Taylor is associate professor of history and African new world studies at Florida International University and author of The Black Churches of Brooklyn.

This book enriches our understanding of a key moment in the American civil rights movement--the struggle to desegregate the nation's largest school system. With clarity and detail, Taylor examines the social history and context behind this campaign, as well as the personal background and quest for a just society of one of its central figures, Milton A. Galamison, a major civil rights leader, and a respected champion for racial and economic justice. This thoughtful work is an important addition to the scholarship on civil rights and school integration. It contributes a great deal to the discourse on race and class in America. -- David N. Dinkins Clarence Taylor is the most important historian of the most important institution among African-Americans: the church. In this, his latest book, he expertly and deftly tells the fascinating story of Rev. Milton A. Galamison and his struggle to desegregate the public schools of New York City. All interested in religion, education, and urban history must read this indispensible book. -- Gerald Horne, author of Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s By turning our attention away from the Southern civil rights movement to the equally intense racial battles in the urban North, Clarence Taylor's moving history of the struggle to desegregate New York City's schools is a much-welcomed addition to the literature. With subtlety and sophistication, he succeeds in painting a complex portrait of Milton A. Galamison without diminishing his courage or ignoring his flaws. -- Robin D. G. Kelly, author of Yo' Mama's DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America