At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance—a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power

In At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance—a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power, historian Danielle L. McGuire uncovers the untold history of many Black female civil rights activists. McGuire’s book is meant to serve as a correction to popular accounts of the civil rights era. While the movement has frequently been associated with its male leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., McGuire argues that Black women have always been at the forefront of anti-racist activism. Civil rights campaigns often targeted sexual violence, and McGuire argues that a central goal of the civil rights movement has always been the protection of Black women’s bodily autonomy.

Published in 2010, At the Dark End of the Street won the 2011 Frederick Jackson Turner Award, which is awarded to outstanding debut works of American history, and the 2011 Lillian Smith Book Award, which celebrates outstanding works focusing on social justice in the American South.

This study guide refers to the e-book edition of At the Dark End of the Street published by the Knopf Doubleday in 2010.

Content Warning: The source material and this study guide discuss rape and anti-Black racism.