Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March is a nonfiction book by Lynda Blackmon Lowery. Designed for young adults, the book tells Lynda’s story about how she came to be the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march. She recounts her numerous prison visits and who she marched alongside. Published in 2015 by Dial Books, this illustrated memoir received widespread critical acclaim and is a popular classroom learning choice. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom won the 2016 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Older Children.

Lynda narrates the story herself. She begins back in 1950, when she was born in Selma, Alabama. She still lives in Selma, although it’s now quite different to how it was in the 1950s. She describes the polarised black and white communities, and how she felt much safer living in an all-black community. Her community at the time is very helpful and charitable, and everyone looks out for each other if there’s financial difficulties. It’s a place where no one lets their fear show, and they don’t make themselves easy targets for white violence.

She recalls how her mother dies and her father is left with four children to bring up on his own, which causes him no small amount of financial difficulty. It’s common knowledge in the community that her mother could have been saved, but the hospital only takes white people. There’s a sense of resigned acceptance even though they know this isn’t right. Lynda relies on the support of her other family, such as her grandmother, to stay strong and keep the family together. It is her grandmother who first takes her to hear Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. He’s a very popular speaker, and the church is overcrowded. He wants everyone to think about how they’ll get the vote, and how it can happen through “steady, loving confrontation.” He does not want violence or aggression—only peaceful, progressive protest.



With the support of her grandmother, Lynda begins her activism. She starts small and participates in events like sit-ins at high schools. It is all about making a stand, getting arrested, getting released and making it to the next protest. Parents try to support them all by giving them sandwiches and treats, and by replacing the poor jail food.
This is a true community effort. The brightest students all stay behind in the schools and take everyone’s tests for the marchers. They do their homework, too, so no one gets into trouble at school. Everyone sings together to stop fear from sinking in, and this works in jail, too. Lynda is jailed nine times before she turns 15, and she’s proud of this. She tries to make changes and participate in protests, even if she’s terrified of the police and jail itself. There’s a sense of community even inside the prison, between her and other young people.

When a protestor, Jimmie Lee Jackson, is shot and killed, there’s a mass funeral and the idea for a longer march from Selma to Montgomery is pitched. This is popular, and over 3,000 people want to walk in it. Some even want to join in after seeing it on television. Lynda tells us all about this Bloody Sunday in 1965. She stands very near the front—around the 19th line in from it. When she gets to the bridge, she is confronted by Alabama State Troopers. This is the first time she feels genuine fear during a protest. She’s told they’re participating in an illegal protest and must disperse, and she runs to avoid teargas. She can’t breathe properly and is then physically assaulted by a police officer for supposedly resisting. This incident leaves Lynda with scarring which sticks with her for the rest of her life. She has scars on the back of her head and above her right eye. She’s only 14 at the time this happens, but the aggression shown by the police force makes her want to keep going. Instead of stopping, she continues in the march all the way to Montgomery. She’s one of only 300 people who make it there. She’s terrified the whole way, but she takes comfort in the others around her. She turns 15 on March 22, during the march, and is the youngest person to take part. Of course, there are times during the march she’s too scared to continue, but others give her the confidence to keep going—in particular, Jim Letherer, a veteran who marches with her and sings songs.

At the end of the book, Lynda includes small biographies of marchers who suffered injuries during the Selma to Montgomery march. She also includes details of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and encourages further reading. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom is sure to appeal to anyone with an interest in American history and the Civil Rights Movement.