Raymond Summerville’s Proverb Masters: Shaping the Civil Rights Movement is a thoroughly researched and well-written examination on the role of “proverbs” within the long civil rights era. Summerville, a professor of English at Fayetteville State University, focuses his study on a select group of civil rights luminaries—Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Charles W. Chesnutt, A. Philip Randolph, Bob Dylan, Septima Clark, Malcolm X, and Stokley Carmichael—pulling from various sources to critically examine their use of proverbs.
The book builds on the paremiological work of folklorists Wolfgang Meider and Anand Prahlad, whom he frequently and appropriately cites throughout the work. Summerville opens the book by establishing proverbs as important tools in the fight for justice during the long civil rights era, a period that stretches from the early twentieth century to now. The author plainly states that “proverbs, sayings and proverbial expressions are connected to issues surrounding civil rights in America” (3). For Summerville, proverbs were key parts of a cultural toolkit that leaders such as Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, strategically and creatively used to appeal to various audiences.
Summerville dedicates each body chapter to a single civil rights figure, investigating their use of proverbs and extracting potential meanings. Despite this consistent framing, the book is never formulaic. Instead, biographical information, divergent proverb use, and the explication of various intended meanings uniquely shape each chapter. Early twentieth-century anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett is the focus of chapter 1. In it, Summerville masterfully interweaves biographical information with explication of her professional proverb use. The author shows that Wells-Barnett’s proverb use was, in part, a product of her dynamic personal and professional life. In chapter 2, Summerville turns his attention to progressive-era writer Charles W. Chesnutt. A prolific author and activist, Chesnutt used proverbs to express moral and political ideals.
Labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph is the subject of chapter 3, one of the book’s most compelling sections. Summerville offers a detailed look at the ways that Randolph, one of the architects of the civil rights movement and mentor of Martin Luther King Jr., used proverbs as “political weapons.” He effectively shows how Randolph culled his proverbs from various sources including the Bible, political figures, and literature, to express his social vision and to call others to action. Summerville’s offers an adroit analysis of particular proverbs in Randolph’s repertoire, surveying their various sources and potential meanings. In addition, the chapter features a succinct but engaging biography of Randolph, focusing on those aspects of his life that impacted or were impacted by his proverb use.
I was surprised to see folk singer Bob Dylan’s inclusion in the text, but in chapter 4, Summerville grounds the artist in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and illuminates the proverbial expressions in his music. For Summerville, the power in Dylan’s work is “derived in part, through his use of proverbs and proverbial language” (100). As the text elucidates, seminal Dylan songs “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and “Subterranean Homesick Blues” feature proverbial language and reflect the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement. As he is the only musician to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Dylan’s lyrics have been widely studied, but Summerville’s brief chapter adds an important thread to Dylan discourse.
In chapter 5, Summerville turns his attention to Septima Clark, “Grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” whose Gullah heritage heavily influenced her proverb use. Chapter 6 explores how Civil Rights icon Malcolm X, inspired by his agrarian roots, used proverbs to accentuate the strongest points in his masterful oratory. Activist and organizer Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Ture), who coined the transcendent phrase “Black Power,” closes out the book. The chapter is deeply nuanced and, in many ways, synthesizes the various paremiological themes of previous chapters. Summerville analyzes the diasporic influences on Carmichael’s proverb use, his use of proverbs as political tools, and his turn to proverbs to express the existential meanings of personal conflict.
Raymond Summerville’s Proverb Masters: Shaping the Civil Rights Movement is an exemplary text that is rigorously researched and well argued. The author employs a very clean and direct writing style that should make it accessible to a diverse array of scholars and readers. It makes a great addition to paremiology and folklore scholarship, as well as to the broad field of Civil Rights study. The book will also be a good fit for undergraduate and graduate classes in folklore, history, and literature. In addition, Proverb Masters should also appeal to popular audiences interested in Civil Rights history and/or oral traditions.
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[Review length: 758 words * Review posted on April 6, 2026]