Driven by the Movement

A collective portrait of the Black Power movement by radical journalist and former Black Panther JoNina Abron-Ervin

Driven by the Movement collects the stories of twenty ordinary people who did extraordinary things for the Black liberation struggle during the pivotal decade of 1965–1975. These activists came from across the US and all walks of life—single working mothers, clergy, students, teachers, military veterans—to organize against police brutality, poverty, hunger, substandard schools, and colonialism in Africa. 

Drawing from her own experience at the heart of the movement, JoNina Abron-Ervin’s on-the-ground reporting offers a rare look into the pragmatism, optimism, compromise, and contradiction and the everyday acts of dedication that animated the Black Power era.

This new edition includes expanded material on the history of the Black Panther newspaper as a source of mass political education and on the Black Panther Party’s legendary survival programs, such as its Free Breakfast for Children and healthcare programs.

A foreword by writer and organizer William C. Anderson connects two torchbearers of the Black radical tradition across generations.