Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972 by Forest Issac Jones (Blog Tour)

Book Info

Genre: Non-Fiction

Age Category: Adult

Number of Pages: 200

Publication Date: April 1, 2025 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220456296-good-trouble 

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/528c74fd-2baf-4bbf-bdfb-c55843105378 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/fa7AIGn (Canada) https://a.co/d/iIdVkZR (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/by31a9v (UK)

Good Trouble will show the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland – specifically the influence of the Montgomery to Selma march on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews of events leading up to both marches and afterwards. This is close to the author’s heart as both of his parents marched to integrate lunch counters and movie theatres in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1963 as college students. His mother was at the 1963 March to Washington where Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Award winning author Julieann Campbell (On Bloody Sunday) wrote the introduction for Good Trouble, looking back at her times growing up in Derry, in the heart of the Catholic Civil Rights Movement. Jones travelled to Dublin, Belfast and Derry to conduct interviews for the book. In all, he did fifteen interviews with people who were involved in the movement in Northern Ireland (including Billy McVeigh – featured in the BAFTA winning documentary, Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland) and in the United States (including Richard Smiley and Dr. Sheyann Webb-Christburg – both were at Bloody Sunday in Alabama and on the Selma to Montgomery march among others). Jones was also able to talk with Eamonn McCann (he took part in the Belfast to Derry march in 1969; he was the John Lewis of Northern Ireland).

Unlike most books on Northern Ireland, this goes into detail about the connection and the influence between the two movements. Also, most focus on Bloody Sunday and not the pivotal incidents at Burntollet Bridge and the Battle of the Bogside. Building off of unprecedented access and interviews with participants in both movements, Jones crafts a gripping and moving account of these pivotal years for both countries.

Being born after Bloody Sunday, the Troubles were the backdrop to my childhood. I was aware that the civil rights movement in the US inspired protest here, having learned 'We Shall Overcome' in primary school, but it was only when I was seventeen doing my degree at Queens that I came to realise how embedded the influence was. Even then, in the late 90s, Black Civil rights chants and slogans were used in every student protest, no matter the cause.

Good Trouble is a very accessible historical narrative, very easy to read and get caught up in. By interviewing witnesses and highlighting the heightened emotions and feelings of the people, it transports the reader to these terrifying events, made even more terrifying by being aware that this was their reality, not fiction.  

The author does a good job of condensing a few hundred years of Irish history- from colonisation and English oppression, 1916, Michael Collins and the War of Independence, Partition to the Troubles and doesn't get too bogged down in the nitty gritty details. What I loved most about this book was the human element and their voice. The author was meticulous in his research, and I was pleased to see emphasis on the trailblazers who made a lasting impact in the quest for equality in Northern Ireland, e.g. John Hume, Bernadette Devlin, and Eamonn McCann. 

The author provides a very personal account of what life was like before and during the Civil Rights movement in the US. Family history and interviews with his parents, who were actively involved, are a precious testament to the struggles of all who strived for change. Reading about the cruelty inflicted on the marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge was heart-wrenching. It's a stark reminder of the depths of intolerance and the immense courage it took to confront it.

For those interested in the subject matter but who shy away from heavy historical or academic texts, this is a good one to start with. Learning about these periods can give us valuable context for the challenges we face today. Every person in Ireland, including the ceasefire babies who didn't learn about it in school, should be reading this book, especially now in the current climate and rising undercurrent of intolerance and anti-immigrant sentiment fuelled by social media fear-mongering. Texts like this serve as vital lessons, not just about the past, but also about the ongoing need to be vigilant against injustice and to actively challenge prejudice in all its forms. It underscores the importance of empathy and understanding the human cost of discrimination, intolerance and division.

About the Author

Forest Issac Jones is the author of the upcoming Good Trouble, a historical examination about the connection between the US Black Civil Rights movement and the Catholic Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland. 'An insightful and compelling examination of a terrible period in our shared histories" (Brian McGilloway), it focuses specifically on the influence of the 1965 Montgomery to Selma march on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews from people who were there on the front lines.

He is an award-winning author of nonfiction and essays, specializing in the study of Irish history, the US Civil Rights movement, and Northern Ireland. His latest essay, 'The Civil Rights Connection Between the USA and Northern Ireland' was awarded honorable mention in the category of nonfiction essay by Writer's Digest in their 93rd annual writing competition in 2024.

In addition, Forest is a member of the Historical Writers Association, Crime Writers of Color, and the James River Writers.