Book cover of Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

Book description

This book unearths a food story buried deep within the soil of American civil rights history. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and oral histories, Bobby J. Smith II re-examines the Mississippi civil rights movement as a period when activists expanded the meaning of civil rights to address food as integral…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Food Power Politics as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Threatening people with starvation is an effective, if cruel, political tool that seems like a relic of the distant past. But Bobby J. Smith II uncovers the unsavory story of how, in 1963, a Mississippi county’s board of supervisors put up a food blockade during a particularly freezing Delta winter to stop Black people from voting. Resistance spread across the country, inspiring Martin Luther King, Jr. and others to collect food and call for an end to this threat to democracy. 

From Andrea's list on food that won’t make you hungry.

If you love Food Power Politics...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Food Power Politics?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Food Power Politics.

Browse books like Food Power Politics

Book cover of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
Book cover of Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now
Book cover of White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,366

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Food Power Politics, you might also like...

Book cover of Deadly Revenge

Deadly Revenge by Patricia Bradley,

Deputy Jenna Hart has only been working in her sleepy hometown of Pearl Springs for seven months when city officials begin to be targeted by a killer. Twenty years ago, the construction of a dam caused people to lose their land to eminent domain. That wound has not healed with…

Book cover of The Duty of Memory

The Duty of Memory by Vicki Olsen,

Separating the true stories from the myths, The Duty of Memory provides a deeper understanding of the diverse motivations that drove ordinary people to join an underground network of French Resistants despite terrible odds and horrifying consequences.

This book takes the reader inside the true story of men and women…

5 book lists we think you will like!