A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams

A Bridge to Justice is a book that chronicles the life of Franklin Hall Williams, a gifted African American leader whose contributions were pivotal to the movement for social justice and racial equality. He was a civil rights leader, lawyer, diplomat, organizer of the Peace Corps, United Nations representative, foundation president, and associate of Thurgood Marshall on some of the seminal civil liberties cases of the past hundred years. He believed that Americans were good people who were open to reason and sympathetic to fairness and justice.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2022
Publisher: Fordham University Press

A visionary and trailblazer, Franklin Hall Williams dedicated his life to the pursuit of civil rights, employing reason and example to advance the cause of social justice and racial equality. A Bridge to Justice offers a fresh perspective on this practical and pragmatic bridge-builder and multifaceted individual whose life reflected the opportunities and constraints of an intellectually elite Black man in the twentieth century. Franklin H. Williams was known as a "bridge" figure, positioned outside the limelight to navigate between Black and white circles, bridge the more turbulent racial waters, and persuade others to see the world in a new light. Throughout his prolific career, he served as a civil rights leader, lawyer, diplomat, organizer of the Peace Corps, United Nations representative, foundation president, and associate of Thurgood Marshall on some of the seminal civil liberties cases of the past century. However, their relationship was characterized by significant tension, leading to Marshall's decision to send Williams to California. He worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, served as a diplomat, and became an exceptionally persuasive advocate for civil rights. Despite enduring segregated Army service, facing cruel discrimination, and narrowly escaping a murderous lynch mob intent on punishing him for zealously representing three innocent Black men falsely accused of rape, Franklin remained a non-hater. He held the belief that Americans, in general, were good people receptive to reason and possessed a deep sense of fairness and justice within their hearts. Dr. Enid Gort, an anthropologist and Africanist, conducted extensive exclusive interviews to delve into the life and legacy of Franklin Hall Williams.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781531500863