In Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, Juan Williams, a well-known political analyst on Fox News Channel, tells us the story of the influential American lawyer Thurgood Marshall. Williams shares with us the events of Thurgood Marshall's life, along with stories and long-kept secrets that are revealed to him during interviews with the seasoned lawyer and his closest colleagues. Chronologically, Williams takes us through Marshall's experiences beginning with his childhood and school career, then through to his groundbreaking career within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), and of the Supreme Court, and concludes with Thurgood Marshall's legacy and impact on the civil rights movement. Named after his father's brother, Thoroughgood Marshall was born in the summer of 1908. Thoroughgood Marshall shortened his name to Thurgood Marshall in second grade because he thought his name was too long and he didn't like spelling it. He came from a middle-class family in Baltimore, Maryland. Neither technically included in the North nor the South of the country, Maryland's racism reflects its location on the map. Between the obviously divided race of the South and the less prejudicial North, Maryland included individuals with a mix of the principles and beliefs of the time. The author makes a good point that the geographic environment from which Marshall originated was one of the few factors that shaped his thoughts and opinions on civil rights. His father, William Marshall, worked as a country club waiter and steward. His mother, Norma Williams, was an elementary school teacher. The author mentions that another early factor that contributed to the formation of Thurgood Marshall's perspectives involves... middle of paper... this informative book by Juan Williams and also taking this course focused on civil rights has slightly reshaped the way where I see the civil rights movement. Growing up in a black community, I always heard stories and learned things in school about the fight for equal rights and the leaders of the movement. Before reading this book and taking this course, I understood only one thing about the civil rights movement: all the leaders involved, pastors, journalists, writers, organizers, teachers, lawyers, students, protesters, rioters, etc., had one goal in mind, freedom. Freedom to be treated unequally because of your ethnicity. Now that I am older and able to think much more critically about issues, I see that although the goal of the movement was freedom, there were different principles and beliefs about how to achieve that freedom..