30 DAYS A BLACK MAN The Forgotten Story that Exposed the Jim Crow South

Narrator Grover Gardner portrays Pittsburgh reporter Ray Sprigle, who, having darkened his skin by sunburn, became a black man to tour the South in 1948, showing his readers black lives under Jim Crow laws in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Sprigle isn't remembered today, but his writing helped start a national discussion on race that continues today. Bill Steigerwald adds background on the era and the discussion. Gardner's narration is clear and crisp, keeping the focus on Sprigle's experience. Visits with sharecroppers, reports on shootings by police and streetcar operators in Atlanta, and everyday indignities draw listeners into Sprigle's fascinating, horrifying journey. Listeners may well share his relief when he leaves Mississippi and when he finally crosses the "Smith & Wesson line" into Ohio. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2017]