A Foot Soldier For Equal Justice
Stars: 5/5
“Saving The Soul of Georgia” does more than just chronicle the achievements of attorney Donald Lee Hollowell, it is a compendium of Hollowell’s life’s work that, taken en masse, helped to bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice.
While some civil rights demonstrations were in the forefront, overtly displayed domestically and internationally, there was also the legal aspect of confronting Jim Crow and civil rights violations. These standoffs took place in the courtroom; a battleground where this foot soldier thrived:
“While pickets, boycotts, sit-ins, and other forms of direct action played a vital role in civil rights progress, victories were often ultimately won in the courts by Hollowell and his colleagues.” (p.184)
Although most remembered for winning the case that allowed Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to be the first black students to attend the University of Georgia, Hollowell fought many courtroom battles that, individually, were ‘wins’ but collectively they were the momentum builders needed to defeat segregation in the Deep South.
Many of Hollowell’s victories and achievements may have gone unnoticed but his legacy of relentless commitment to social justice now lives on thanks to Dr. Maurice Daniels.
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