Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement

Born in Chicago, civil rights activist Diane Nash (b. 1938) grows up in a diverse, integrated community until moving to Tennessee for college, where she first encounters segregation: “Two signs for bathrooms: WHITE and COLORED.” Determined to “change wrong into right” through peaceful protest, Nash demonstrates against the ban on integrated seating at lunch counters, confronts Nashville’s mayor, and participates in freedom rides, all along showing that “Love is fierce./ Love is strong./ Love is loud!” Wallace’s emotive second-person text condenses Nash’s extensive activism into an inspiring meditation on love as the heart of justice, while Collier’s watercolor and collage illustrations bring artful dimension to Nash’s nonviolent resistance. Back matter includes creators’ notes and suggested reading material. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)