At the recent Festival of Books, USC associate professor Alice Baumgartner moderated a profound panel titled “Stand Together: The Roots and Legacy of Peaceful Protest and Community Organizing.” The discussion featured four accomplished authors—Char Adams, Aaron G. Fountain Jr., Andre Carthers, and Annie Leonard—who delved into the multifaceted history of American activism.
The panelists emphasized that historic protests are often misunderstood as spontaneous. Leonard debunked the myth of Rosa Parks as simply a “tired seamstress,” detailing the robust ecosystem of preparation and civil rights infrastructure that supported her famous demonstration. Highlighting the lesser-known contributions of youth, Fountain discussed his research on 1960s and ‘70s high school student uprisings. He revealed how teenagers formed underground newspapers and organized citywide walkouts, which led to sweeping changes in school security and prompted intense FBI surveillance.
Adams expanded the definition of organizing by exploring the revolutionary life of the Black bookstore. She detailed how 19th-century abolitionist David Ruggles utilized his New York bookstore as a critical hub for anti-slavery work and knowledge sharing. Adams noted that for Black Americans, simply acquiring and distributing literature has historically served as a powerful act of resistance.