{"product_id":"lifting-every-voice-my-journey-from-segregated-roanoke-to-the-corridors-of-power-hardcover","title":"Lifting Every Voice: My Journey from Segregated Roanoke to the Corridors of Power - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eWilliam B. Robertson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eBecky Hatcher Crabtree\u003c\/b\u003e (With), \u003cb\u003eLinwood Holton\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBill Robertson was one of our greatest pioneers and a tireless advocate for racial justice. One of his final acts was the completion of his memoirs. \u003ci\u003eLifting Every Voice\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how the advances made during his lifetime were no foregone conclusion; without the passionate efforts of real people, our present could have been very different.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe survivor of a traumatic childhood in the \u003ci\u003eGreen Book\u003c\/i\u003e South, and the witness to his father's rage over racial inequity, Robertson rose above an oppressive environment to find a place within the system and, against extreme odds, effect change. He was the first Black man to run for the Virginia General Assembly, and as a teacher, the first to help integrate a white school in Roanoke. He became the first Black decision-maker in any southern governor's office, appointed by Virginia governor Linwood Holton in 1970. In a state controlled by segregationist Democrats, Holton was the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and his government was pivotal in its commitment to move the state away from nearly a century of segregationist policies. Bill Robertson was an inner-circle member of this historic administration. His account of its challenges and hard-won victories tells us much about that critical era.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRobertson went on to serve five presidents, heading the Peace Corps office in Kenya and later serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs. As a public servant he worked on both sides of the aisle, in a way almost inconceivable in today's polarized society, collaborated with the Jaycees to build a camp for children with mental disabilities in Virginia, and eventually focused his support on Black Lives Matter in his eighties--because there is still so far to go.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWilliam B. \"Bill\" Robertson was a trailblazing educator, activist, and gubernatorial advisor who was a central participant in Virginia's shift from its segregationist past and who went on to serve in five presidential administrations. Becky Hatcher Crabtree is an author living in West Virginia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.68 x 9.2 x 6.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 22, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42702270234720,"sku":"9780813947174","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bijoucc.myshopify.com\/products\/lifting-every-voice-my-journey-from-segregated-roanoke-to-the-corridors-of-power-hardcover","provider":"CARIBBEAN CONNECT","version":"1.0","type":"link"}