The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family for $0.01

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Full disclosure: I was a former student of author Sherryl Cashin (former being the key word here--there's no incentive for me to provide anything but a truthful review). In the classroom we could pick up on her dedication to providing high quality instruction and issues of equality. Even these traits offered little clue of the illustrious family line described in her new book, The Agitator's Daughter. The book takes a honest and emotionally open look into the accomplishments, motivations, and struggles of an African-American family that has been politically prominent for several generations. The Agitator's Daughter will likely cause all who read it to reflect on their own "inheritance." While I am not smart enough to identify genius, Cashin make masterful connections between her lineage and the progress of both African-American rights and relationships between individuals of various socioeconomic backgrounds generally.

Let's face it--many people will receive nary a nickel of financial inheritance from their parents. In this memoir Cashin reflects on the priceless gifts children and adults receive from their parents, loved ones or if that term doesn't apply, relatives. This legacy includes an abundance of knowledge about their family's past and the strength and will to persevere despite obstacles placed in their path, no matter what their background may be. These are invaluable lessons that echo throughout life. Cashin shows how this legacy makes it possible for individuals to instill within themselves self reliance, work ethic, and the need to help others and/or engage in formalized service activities, whether overtly or covertly.

Cashin reveals her feelings towards her inheritance in a very candid manner by telling her intriguing family story. The family history lovingly passed to her from her father served as a motivating factor for writing this family memoir. Cashin notes that "[a] confident man tends to talk about himself, and Daddy is more confident than most." She greatly benefited from her father's talkativeness and passes the knowledge given to her by her father on through her memoir. The memoir also synthesizes information from archives research, family documents, and an ancestry website.

Cashin first traces her family line through five generations. She begins with the biracial union of an Irish slaveowner and "mulatto" slave. The author's great-grandfather Herschel Cashin was one of the couple's seven children. He eventually became one of Alabama's first Black lawyers and a proponent of political rights for African-Americans. Herschel Cashin played a substantial role in Reconstruction gains for African-American progress and equality. He used the law and legislation to obtain voting rights for Blacks, and worked with other trailblazers such as Booker T. Washington, one instance in the book showing that "a disempowered people will always have disagreements about how to proceed."

As another book reviewer stated, to whom much is given, much is required. Some individuals who have much and recognize the truth in this statement reach out to loved ones, close friends, and individuals in their immediate community to contribute. The agitator in the memoir , "Daddy" to Cashin and "John Logan" to readers, felt compelled to reach out to disadvantaged individuals generally and advocate for equal rights. John Logan was a dentist by trade.

John Logan corralled and collaborated with multiracial groups of individuals of varying socioeconomic means to work towards their common goal of equal rights for all. He became a full-fledged activist after completing his graduate studies and traveling to Europe. In Europe, John Logan's "historical consciousness deepened with the humanitarian treatment he received." John Logan was motivated by his grandfather Herschel Cashin's civil rights work and empathy for individuals of lesser means. The agitator sacrificed greatly in battling racial inequality. John Logan's work and the work of other pioneers paved the way for an African-American (now President Elect who also helped others and now has the opportunity to effect change on a massive scale)and a woman to head the U.S. presidential ticket.

Cashin explores the depths to which the agitator would go in following in his great-grandfather's footsteps and how her family was affected with anecdotes and ample research. It takes an agitator to address the status quo. John Logan overcame barriers based on race through strategic action. The agitator was a wealthy man who poured his heart and fortune into his political causes and friendships. He experienced devastating results that significantly affected Cashin's entire immediate family. His monetary generosity particularly impacted the family.

Cashin also offers little nuggets of knowledge relied on by African-Americans during less racially harmonious times. Cashin includes the experiences of others growing up in a time where the nation struggled with inequality and her experiences growing up as a "first" and "only." These experiences made it possible for children today of all stripes to grow up in welcoming environments and attend schools without encountering bigotry where teachers encouraged all students.

This memoir is perfect for individuals or groups that want a book that tells an engaging personal family story where themes affecting all of our lives such as history, politics, race relations, internal struggle, socioeconomic class are linked to introspection and progress. Cashin forthrightly discusses her journey in wrestling with her legacy. The Agitator's Daughter provides invaluable insight and serves as inspiration to others to discover and grow their own "inheritance."

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"The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family" Overview

A renowned law professor's intimate chronicle of her family's history as pioneers of social justice, and the price her father paid for their achievements.

During Reconstruction, Herschel V. Cashin was a radical republican legislator who championed black political enfranchisement throughout the South. His grandson, Dr. John L. Cashin, Jr., inherited that passion for social justice and formed an independent Democratic party to counter George Wallace's Dixiecrats, electing more blacks to office than in any Southern state. His "uppity" ways attracted many enemies. Twice the private plane Cashin owned and piloted was sabotaged. His dental office and boyhood home were taken by eminent domain. The IRS pursued him, as did the FBI. Ultimately his passions would lead to ruin and leave his daughter, Sheryll, wondering why he would risk so much.

In following generations of Cashins through the eras of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, civil rights, and post-civil rights political struggles, Sheryll Cashin conveys how she came to embrace being an agitator's daughter with humor, honesty, and love.

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