Join author and journalist Claudia Smith Brinson as she discusses her book Stories of Struggle. In this pioneering study of the arduous struggle for civil rights in South Carolina that details the lynchings, beatings, bombings, cross burnings, death threats, arson and venomous hatred that black South Carolinians endured — as well as the astonishing courage, devotion, dignity  and compassion of those who risked their lives for equality. Through extensive research and interviews with more than 150 civil rights activists, many of whom had never shared their stories with anyone, Brinson chronicles 20 pivotal years of petitioning, preaching, picketing, boycotting, marching and holding sit-ins that altered the landscape of civil rights in South Carolina and reverberated throughout the South.

Claudia Smith Brinson, a newspaper journalist in South Carolina for more than 30 years, spent much of her career as a senior writer, writing coach, associate editor and columnist. She won more than 30 state, regional, and national awards, including Knight Ridder’s Award of Excellence and an O. Henry Award for short fiction, and she was a member of the Pulitzer finalist team covering Hurricane Hugo.