Another Sojourner Looking for Truth: My Journey from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

Memories and insights of a lifetime fighting for Black freedom and social justice

Millicent E. Brown’s family home at 270 Ashley Avenue in Charleston, South Carolina, was a center of civil rights activity. There Brown gained intimate knowledge of the struggle for racial justice, and those experiences set her on a life course dedicated to the civil rights struggle. Best known as the named plaintiff in the federal court case that, in 1963, forced the initial desegregation of public schools in South Carolina, her experiences as an activist range across years and well beyond her native state. Another Sojourner Looking for Truth is Brown’s insightful reflection on her search for freedom in a nation deeply mired in white supremacist beliefs and overt violence against people of color.

In this revealing memoir, Brown writes about her fears and doubts, as well as the challenges of being a teenager expected to ＂represent the race＂ and combat negative stereotypes of African Americans. Readers also gain perspective on the interpersonal aspects of white backlash to civil rights progress and strategic machinations within the movement. Overall, Brown’s words will inform, inspire, and challenge everyone to better understand the Black Freedom Struggle and confront its ongoing challenges.

Millicent Brown holds a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Florida State University and is a retired Associate Professor of History at Claflin University, where she taught U.S. History 2008-2014. Prior to teaching at Claflin, she held positions at North Carolina A&T, Guilford College, and Bennett College. More importantly for the project at hand, Brown has lived a life of activism and advocacy for neighborhoods of color in the South, and she has first-hand accounts of key people, places, and moments of the civil rights movement. Brown’s activism stretches back to her childhood. She was the named plaintiff in the school desegregation case Millicent Brown et al v. School District No. 20, Charleston, South Carolina (1963) (the ＂other＂ Brown) and was one of the first African American children to attend integrated schools in Charleston.