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Mahalia Jackson, Moving on Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer
If Americans today still recognize the name Mahalia Jackson, they might recall that she was perhaps the...
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If Americans today still recognize the name Mahalia Jackson, they might recall that she was perhaps the greatest gospel singer who ever lived. But for many people, there is no awareness at all, not even for an entertainer whose "Move On Up a Little Higher" sold eight million copies, who headlined two Newport Jazz Festivals and performed before four United States presidents.
While this rich musical legacy is admired by those in the know, virtually no one recognizes Jackson's astonishing role in American civil rights history. In this startling new depiction of the renowned gospel singer, New York Times best-selling author Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams, an acclaimed gospel singer herself, bring Jackson back to soaring life by positioning her as the major civil rights figure she, in fact, was.
Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher then traces Jackson's career from abject poverty in New Orleans to global superstardom, revealing how even after meteoric success, Jackson maintained an unwavering devotion to Black freedom. In the 1930s in Chicago, even before the Civil Rights Movement took its modern shape, she used her rapturous voice to support independent Black political power. Her work only intensified in the 1940s and beyond when she campaigned first for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later for Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson; headlined in Montgomery for the 1955-56 bus boycott; sang for the Birmingham campaign and on the Selma March; and performed at the iconic 1963 March on Washington, where she urged Martin Luther King Jr. to "Tell 'em about the dream." In retrospect what becomes historically significant is that Mahalia Jackson was present at so many civil rights events, even singing a divine rendition of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," at Dr. King's funeral in 1968. Weakened and worn, she succumbed to heart failure four years later at the age of sixty.
Weaving together Mahalia Jackson's inspiring life journey with her soulful music into a transcendent text, this biography ultimately casts Mahalia Jackson as we've never seen her before, as a guiding light for the Civil Rights Movement, whose message still speaks to our struggles today.
Author: Timothy B. Tyson,Mary D. Williams
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Published: 08/18/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781324094616
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 05/25/2026
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2026
Booklist 08/01/2026
About the Author
Tyson, Timothy B.: - Timothy B. Tyson is senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the author of five books, including New York Times bestseller The Blood of Emmett Till.Williams, Mary D.: - Mary D. Williams is a gospel singer, civil rights historian, and former adjunct professor at Duke University. She has performed at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and lives in Garner, North Carolina.
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