Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality

VIRTUAL BOOK TALK | Tomiko Brown-Nagin in conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

“[An] immersive and eye-opening biography . . . Brilliantly balancing the details of Motley’s professional and personal life with lucid legal analysis, this riveting account shines a well-deserved—and long overdue—spotlight on a remarkable trailblazer.”
—Publishers Weekly, *starred review*

Constance Baker Motley was expected to find herself a good career as a hairdresser. Instead, she became the first black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, and that was just the beginning. Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country. With an extraordinary wealth of research, award-winning legal historian Tomiko Brown-Nagin brings Motley to life and dramatically fills out the picture of some of the most profound judicial and societal changes made in twentieth-century America.