Commonwealth Club Of California Podcast

More than a century of civil rights activism reached a mountaintop with the arrival of a Black man in the Oval Office. But hopes for a unified, post-racial America were deflated when Barack Obama’s presidency met with furious opposition. A white, right-wing backlash was brewing, and a volcanic new movement—a second civil rights movement—began to erupt.  In the highly anticipated follow-up to his Eyes on the Prize, bestselling author Juan Williams turns his attention to the rise of a new 21st-century civil rights movement. In New Prize for These Eyes, Williams shines a light on this historic, new movement. Who are its heroes? Where is it headed? What fires, furies, and frustrations distinguish it from its predecessor?  In the 20th century, Black activists and their white allies called for equal rights and an end to segregation. They appealed to the Declaration of Independence’s defiant assertion that “all men are created equal.” They prioritized legal battles in the courtroom and legislative victories in Con