Speak Truth to Power

“Dorsey has written a story that needs to be told; the account is interesting and even compelling.”

—Marlene H. Rikard, Samford University   

“There are few essential volumes on life as lived in Alabama in this period written by African Americans. One longs for word from this silent realm and therefore cheers this offering from Ms. Dorsey. . . . The author has answered for the reader how Charles Patrick came to take such a heroic stance to challenge the abuse of Birmingham police.”

—Cleophus Thomas Jr., Attorney at Law, Trustee Emeritus of The University of Alabama

“Patrick did not intend to become a civil rights pioneer, but a minor dispute over a parking spot led to his arrest, beating while in custody, and eventual legal tribulations. His daughter's account of his ordeal is well researched, beautifully narrated, and extremely informative. Historians will find great value in mining the details from Dorsey's fine book. . . . The book offers indisputable evidence that the beating her father endured was just one example of routine police brutality against African American--incidents that almost always went unpunished. . . . [Speak Truth to Power is] an intimate, hauntingly personal view of white supremacist terror and black resistance in the South following World War II. It is worth reading if only for its epilogue, in which Dorsey follows her father as he flees to California; grapples with the Watts uprising, Black Power, and urban decay; and somehow maintains his dream of a beloved community.”—Journal of Southern History