Saturday, June 7 at 10.30am @ Off Square Books
The astonishing, courageous story of a journalist’s dogged pursuit of the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement Square Books in partnership with the Mississippi June Bug Society presents award-winning investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell for Race Against Time.
About the book
“For almost two decades, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell doggedly pursued the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement. This book is his amazing story. Thanks to him, and to courageous prosecutors, witnesses, and FBI agents, justice finally prevailed.” —John Grisham, author of The Guardians
On June 21, 1964, more than twenty Klansmen murdered three civil rights workers. The killings, in what would become known as the “Mississippi Burning” case, were among the most brazen acts of violence during the civil rights movement. And even though the killers’ identities, including the sheriff’s deputy, were an open secret, no one was charged with murder in the months and years that followed.
It took forty-one years before the mastermind was brought to trial and finally convicted for the three innocent lives he took. If there is one man who helped pave the way for justice, it is investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell.
In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes readers on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the civil rights movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents, found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan. He takes us into every harrowing scene along the way, as when Mitchell goes into the lion’s den, meeting one-on-one with the very murderers he is seeking to catch. His efforts have put four leading Klansmen behind bars, years after they thought they had gotten away with murder.
Race Against Time is an astonishing, courageous story capturing a historic race for justice, as the past is uncovered, clue by clue, and long-ignored evils are brought into the light. This is a landmark book and essential reading for all Americans.
About the author
The stories of Jerry Mitchell, who leads the investigative reporting team for Mississippi Today, have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars as well as helping free two people from death row. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur Genius grant. He is the author of Race Against Time about his pursuit of some of the nation’s most notorious murders, including the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers and the KKK’s 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. He now leads Mississippi Today’s investigative team, which has exposed a 20-year reign of terror by deputies known as “the Goon Squad.”
Race Against Time
By Jerry Mitchell
$20.00
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781451645149
