You can't kill a man because of the books he reads Angelo Herndon's fight for free speech

Georgetown law professor Snyder (Democratic Justice) vividly recreates the life of labor organizer Angelo Herndon (1914--1997), who in 1932 faced "a possible death sentence" over his possession of "communist literature." Born to Alabama sharecroppers, Herndon began working at 13 and was soon drawn to the local chapter of the American Communist Party. After rising through the party ranks and moving to Atlanta, he became a target of the KKK and Georgia government officials. Following the police seizure of radical literature from his rooms, he was charged with "insurrection" under a slavery-era law. At his trial, his attorney argued that "you can't kill a man because of the books he reads," staving off a death sentence. Herndon was convicted and consigned to a chain gang, but after years of appeals the Supreme Court finally overtured Georgia's insurrection law as unconstitutional, freeing Herndon. He went on to become a "literary figure" in Harlem, penning an autobiography and founding a magazine (he made Ralph Ellison managing editor). Snyder astutely dissects Herndon's story for its ramifications for civil liberties and free speech today--including the continued persecution Herndon faced for the political content of his magazine, which Snyder is careful to layer with Herndon's own shortcomings as a businessman (Ellison, whose paychecks "failed to materialize," quit after the third issue). The result is a rewarding and kaleidoscopic look at the early years of civil rights activism. (Feb.)

The man at the heart of a landmark First Amendment case. Now all but forgotten, Angelo Herndon was a cause célèbre, often spoken of in the 1930s in the same breath as the accused Scottsboro Boys. Like his Alabama contemporaries who were imprisoned for the alleged rape of two white women, Herndon was on trial for his life before an all-white jury, accused of breaking a Georgia law against inciting insurrection that predated the Civil War, when it was used to target rebellious slaves. A Communist, Herndon aroused local officials' ire by attempting to organize an interracial protest in segregated Atlanta against paltry unemployment payments during the early days of the Depression. An unwarranted search of his home turned up a book advocating for a Black homeland carved out of the so-called Black Belt of several Southern states, including Georgia. At his first trial, which ended in conviction, the judge "showed mercy" by sentencing Herndon to 15 years in a chain gang, a de facto (albeit slower) death sentence that only the hardiest few survived. The bulk of Georgetown Law professor Snyder's important and timely history is devoted to the aftermath of this trial, each chapter shining a light on the courageous interracial group who took on Herndon's case as it made its way to the Supreme Court. The bravest was Herndon himself, who, barely out of his teens, survived legalized torture by racist police, prison guards, and Ku Klux Klansmen and, after his release on bond, became an eloquent spokesman for his own cause and those of others both in print and at rallies around the United States. An inspiring portrait from an appalling chapter in American history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.