Witness to Change

From her unique vantage point in New Orleans, Sybil Haydel Morials life spans one of the most critical periods in our countrys history. In this remarkable memoir, Morial chronicles her life as both witness to and catalyst for sweeping changesdesegregation, the end of Jim Crow, and the fight for voting rights. These changes transformed the nation during her lifetime. Morials story is welcome inspiration for the struggle for political empowerment that continues. As Ambassador Andrew Young, a childhood friend and later Sybils prom date, relates in his foreword: It is doubtful that New Orleans could have produced two mayors with the dynamic, creative, and visionary leadership of 'Dutch' and Marc Morial without a wife and mother of Sybils loving strength, intelligence, and moral courage. But the life she lived in the crucible times and her perception of the civil rights movement in New Orleans goes far beyond that.