
Song in a Weary Throat
Memoir of an American Pilgrimage
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Narrated by:
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Allyson Johnson
About this listen
Poet, memoirist, labor organizer, and Episcopal priest, Pauli Murray helped transform the law of the land. Arrested in 1940 for sitting in the whites-only section of a Virginia bus, Murray propelled that life-defining event into a Howard law degree and a fight against "Jane Crow" sexism.
Her legal brilliance was pivotal to the overturning of Plessy v. Ferguson, the success of Brown v. Board of Education, and the Supreme Court's recognition that the equal protection clause applies to women; it also connected her with such progressive leaders as Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Now Murray is finally getting long-deserved recognition: The first African American woman to receive a doctorate of law at Yale, her name graces one of the university's new colleges. Handsomely republished with a new introduction, Murray's remarkable memoir takes its rightful place among the great civil rights autobiographies of the 20th century.
©1987 The Pauli Murray Foundation; Introduction copyright 2018 by Patricia Bell-Scott (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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A mixed-race orphan, Murray grew up in segregated North Carolina before escaping to New York, where she attended Hunter College and became a labor activist in the 1930s. When she applied to graduate school at the University of North Carolina, where her white great-great-grandfather had been a trustee, she was rejected because of her race. She went on to graduate first in her class at Howard Law School, only to be rejected for graduate study again at Harvard University this time on account of her sex. Undaunted, Murray forged a singular career in the law.
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What listeners say about Song in a Weary Throat
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-08-23
Grateful!
What a blessing to learn the story of this powder human! I remember her with even more respect!
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- Margaret
- 03-19-22
Incredible person!
This should be required reading for every high school student in the country. What an amazing woman. One person truly can change the world!
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- Ian
- 03-23-25
A Pioneering Legacy though Footnoted in History
This autobiography truly introduced and immersed me in the legacy of Rev. Dr. Murray, with whom I had only a passing familiarity. However, I could not put it down once I started this piece. It took me a while to adjust to the narrator’s voice, but after hearing Rev. Dr. Murray’s voice in the few published audio pieces contained on YouTube, I adjusted and appreciated the narration, which authentically captured Murray’s voice. Murray’s life and work as a civil rights activist, attorney, and later episcopal priest were unique but also revolutionary, both intentionally and unintentionally. The autobiography beautifully highlights the perplexity which tells a compelling story. Another womanist, feminist, seminarian, law student, activist, and Black American should definitely add this to their reading list!
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-01-21
Extended Life Story Told Well
Well written. Murray gives a very interesting story of a compelling and meaningful life well lived.
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- Michael Jackson
- 09-14-23
A Life Full of Dreams Filled
WOW! Thank you Pauli Murray for all of the contributions you made to all of humanity. Great read of a titan who shaped much of the 20th Century for progress.
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- K COOKE
- 05-11-22
Pauli Murray the Trail Blazer
I loved it. This book should be required reading in all US High Schools. What amazing life Pauli Murray had! I am forever smitten.
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- Coisge F Mccullough
- 04-13-24
great American shero
The book was educational and is a foundational piece for our African American feminism and freedom as well as Good Will towards humanity. this was a great book to listen to
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- Fran White
- 11-28-24
Song with a key to my life
I loved the way she intertwined the histories of civil rights and feminist movements. This would work well in the college classroom
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- Julie Christensen
- 02-19-22
Everyone should know who Pauli Murray is!
5 stars for the amazing human we get to know. The 3 stars is a reflection of my general lack of enthusiasm for biographies/autobiographies (I much prefer historical fiction. I need a story line to keep my brain engaged.) But it was worth it to forge ahead to the end.
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