J. L. Chestnut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (February 2008)

J.L. Chestnut (born 1930) is an author, attorney, and a figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was the first African-American attorney in Selma, Alabama, and the author of the autobiographical book, Black in Selma, which chronicles the history of the Civil Rights struggle in Selma, including Bloody Sunday.

Chestnut was born in Selma, and attended law school at Howard University. He returned home to become Selma's first and only black attorney, and represented civil rights demonstrators at trial there when the movement began in the 1960s.

[edit] References

• New York Times review of Black in Selma

• "The Legacy of Rosa Parks", article by Chestnut in Counterpunch, October 26, 2005