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The Eyes of Willie McGee Audiobook by Alex Heard
Listen to this audiobook free with a 30-day trial. Go to http://hotaudiobook.com/free
Title: The Eyes of Willie McGee
Subtitle: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South
Author: Alex Heard
Narrator: J. D. Jackson
Format: Unabridged
Length: 14 hrs
Language: English
Release date: 05-11-10
Publisher: HarperAudio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes
Genres: History, 20th Century
Publisher's Summary:
A gripping saga of race and retribution in the Deep South and a story whose haunting details echo the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird.
In 1945, Willie McGee, a young African-American man from Laurel, Mississippi, was sentenced to death for allegedly raping Willette Hawkins, a white housewife. At first, McGee's case was barely noticed, covered only in hostile Mississippi newspapers and far-left publications such as the Daily Worker. Then Bella Abzug, a young New York labor lawyer, was hired by the Civil Rights Congressan aggressive civil-rights organization with ties to the Communist Party of the United Statesto oversee McGee's defense. Together with William Patterson, the son of a slave and a devout believer in the need for revolutionary change, Abzug and a group of white Mississippi lawyers risked their lives to plead McGee's case. After years of court battles, McGee's supporters flooded President Harry S. Truman and the U.S. Supreme Court with clemency pleas, and famous Americans spoke out on McGee's behalf.
By the time the case ended in 1951 with McGee's public execution in Mississippi's infamous traveling electric chair, "Free Willie McGee" had become a rallying cry among civil-rights activists, progressives, leftists, and Communist Party members. Their movement had succeeded in convincing millions of people worldwide that McGee had been framed and that the real story involved a consensual love affair between him and Mrs. Hawkinsone that she had instigated and controlled. As Heard discovered, this controversial theory is a doorway to a tangle of secrets that spawned a legacy of confusion, misinformation, and pain that still resonates today.
Critic Reviews:
"The case of Willie McGee is an enduring mystery, but theres no doubt he was the victim of a primitive and unfair judicial system. Alex Heards excellent account of his life and death is tragic, sad, and very compelling." (John Grisham)
In this riveting personal journey, Alex Heard explores the political and social forces at play and then reveals the fascinating human drama underneath it all. Its like a real-life To Kill a Mockingbird, but with even more subtlety and complexity. (Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein)
Contact me for any questions: [email protected]
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By You Get 1 Full Audiobook Free By Starting a 30-Day Free Trial. Go to *** hotaudiobook.com/free ***Listen to this audiobook free with a 30-day trial. Go to http://hotaudiobook.com/free
Title: The Eyes of Willie McGee
Subtitle: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South
Author: Alex Heard
Narrator: J. D. Jackson
Format: Unabridged
Length: 14 hrs
Language: English
Release date: 05-11-10
Publisher: HarperAudio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes
Genres: History, 20th Century
Publisher's Summary:
A gripping saga of race and retribution in the Deep South and a story whose haunting details echo the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird.
In 1945, Willie McGee, a young African-American man from Laurel, Mississippi, was sentenced to death for allegedly raping Willette Hawkins, a white housewife. At first, McGee's case was barely noticed, covered only in hostile Mississippi newspapers and far-left publications such as the Daily Worker. Then Bella Abzug, a young New York labor lawyer, was hired by the Civil Rights Congressan aggressive civil-rights organization with ties to the Communist Party of the United Statesto oversee McGee's defense. Together with William Patterson, the son of a slave and a devout believer in the need for revolutionary change, Abzug and a group of white Mississippi lawyers risked their lives to plead McGee's case. After years of court battles, McGee's supporters flooded President Harry S. Truman and the U.S. Supreme Court with clemency pleas, and famous Americans spoke out on McGee's behalf.
By the time the case ended in 1951 with McGee's public execution in Mississippi's infamous traveling electric chair, "Free Willie McGee" had become a rallying cry among civil-rights activists, progressives, leftists, and Communist Party members. Their movement had succeeded in convincing millions of people worldwide that McGee had been framed and that the real story involved a consensual love affair between him and Mrs. Hawkinsone that she had instigated and controlled. As Heard discovered, this controversial theory is a doorway to a tangle of secrets that spawned a legacy of confusion, misinformation, and pain that still resonates today.
Critic Reviews:
"The case of Willie McGee is an enduring mystery, but theres no doubt he was the victim of a primitive and unfair judicial system. Alex Heards excellent account of his life and death is tragic, sad, and very compelling." (John Grisham)
In this riveting personal journey, Alex Heard explores the political and social forces at play and then reveals the fascinating human drama underneath it all. Its like a real-life To Kill a Mockingbird, but with even more subtlety and complexity. (Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein)
Contact me for any questions: [email protected]