The writing is simple and clear, and the themes will resonate with all kinds of readers, from journalism scholars to anyone seeking to ensure equality and justice for all. Historians and journalists covering today’s complex racial realities will find this book a useful accompaniment to other histories of the era.

The Journal of Magazine Media

The modern Civil Rights Movement was the first American revolt to be christened by the modern visual media. Life Magazine photographers were on the scene and on the front lines of that epic struggle. This volume by Michael DiBari features the very best of the decade that changed America's racial topography, riveting images that sent shock waves around the globe.

Paul Delaney, Former New York Times National Editor

Michael DiBari new book offers a persuasive examination of Life Magazine’s crucial role in covering the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. DiBari’s book details the evolution, impact, and significance of Life’s coverage, and by so doing shows how much has been lost in the tepid equivalency journalism of today.

Michael Carlebach, Historian & Photographer

This groundbreaking work by an African American scholar is a valuable addition to the literature on the power of photography in the Civil Rights Movement. DiBari’s lens is focused on a broad analytical scholarly study of Life Magazine’s photographs and stories from 1954—1965. It is also a crucially important way of looking at the history, development, and meaning of race in America today with vast challenges for further study in understanding race and media—its past, present, and future.

Dorothy Gilliam, First black woman reporter, editor, and columnist at The Washington Post