James H. Laue

The Changing Character of Negro Protest

A major change has taken place in the desegrega tion process in the last ten years. It is characterized by growing militancy on the part of thousands of Negro and white Ameri cans, and the growth in influence of six major civil rights organ izations. The initiative for change has shifted from the hands of a relatively few professional desegregationists to large num bers of average citizens who are now willing to confront the segregated system through direct action. The growth and im mediate success of the sit-in movement in 1960 added a third method of effective protest—activism—to the legal and edu cational means which had been employed before. It is found that significant desegregation in America has taken place only after the development of crisis situations which demanded rapid resolution by community decision-makers. The movement is turning to an essentially political phase, requiring the major civil rights groups to utilize all three methods more fully in co-ordinated programs. An indication of the success of such co-operative programs is the Voter Education Project, which registered more than 550,000 new Negro voters in the South from 1962 to 1964.

Prisoner Redress: Analysis of an Inmate Grievance Procedure

A procedure for the resolution of inmate grievances at the local level, developed and advocated by the Center for Community Justice, calls for inmate and officer participation in its design, implementation, and operation ; specified periods for review and written responses at each level of appeal; and input by persons outside the correctional structure. On-site observations, interviews with correctional administrators, officers, and in mates, and a review of institutional records during the first year of the procedures operation in several institutions, together with analyses of preimplementation and postimplementation questionnaire responses by inmates and officers, are the basis for (1) recommendations for successful implementation of the procedure, (2) an assessment of the efficiency of the procedures operation, and (3) an evaluation of the procedures impact. Finally, the redress of inmate grievances is discussed in terms of social change and social control.

The Black Jews of Harlem: Negro Nationalism and the Dilemmas of Negro Leadership.@@@When the Word is Given ... A Report on Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and the Black Muslim World.

Writing from a thorough knowledge of Black Muslim groups, Lomax examines the entire movement --from its beginnings under its mysterious founder, W.D. Ford, to its position as an explosive power on the racial scene. An imporant part of the book is devoted to the speeches of Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad.