{"product_id":"the-class-of-1968-a-thread-through-time-9781646287307","title":"The Class of 1968: A Thread through Time","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in the late 1940s and early 50s and raised in a segregated town in southern Mississippi  a group of Black girls and boys came of age together  and graduated from high school in Hattiesburg as \"The Class of 1968.\" Now in their late 60s and early 70s  they have chosen to reflect on their families  community  and school experiences. Together  they experienced one of the most tumultuous eras in U.S. history  and they reflect on those experiences in these personal essays. They think back on the Vietnam War  the draft  the assassination of their neighbors and national leaders  and the Civil Rights Movement. The fact that they came of age during these tumultuous events makes their experiences all the more vivid and profound  since the tender adolescent years typically mark us more profoundly than other phases in life. Perhaps most significantly  the era suddenly brought racial desegregation to Hattiesburg  in early 1967. Under \"Freedom of School Choice \" some Black Hattiesburg students saw their lifelong friends choose to attend the white high school for their senior year. Their stories bring forth a rush of memories  some that will make you laugh  others that will make you cry  and many that will make you wonder how things may have turned out differently had racism not poisoned their day-to-day lives. Although the contributors dealt with these formative experiences differently  all were touched in some way by the same forces in the dying days of legalized segregation. The essays here also reflect on our present moment: although racial segregation has lessened  it still persists in Hattiesburg and throughout America  leading to an era we might call racial resegregation. Yet the 1950s and 60s have ended. \"We dont want these memories to die with us \" says lead editor Mrs. Doris Gaines. \"We want the next generations to know our thoughts and feelings and to understand how the past helped make us what we are today  and what made us tick.\" The Class of 1968: A Thread Through Time explains how these citizens negotiated their youth in Hattiesburg and  in doing so  offers us wisdom about how to move through life with grace and integrity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67956144046133,"sku":"ByrdShop_1646287304","price":34.31,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781646287307.jpg?v=1794455440","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-class-of-1968-a-thread-through-time-9781646287307","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}