In the 1930s and 40s devoutly religious and semiliterate black laborers and sharecroppers organized improve the conditions of their lives against Alabama's racist police state. Skillfully altering their rhetoric to fit the culture of the south, organizers fought for self-determination, racial equality, and improved labor conditions. Although a dense and laborious read, the stories inside will disabuse anyone of the belief that the left didn't fight for better lives in Dixie.