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Review Quotes:
When times were hard, Martin Luther King Jr. often reached for the one voice that could comfort and strengthen him--Mahalia Jackson, the greatest gospel singer of her time and an overlooked leader in the civil rights movement. Mahalia's voice seemed born of heaven. In
Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher, Timothy Tyson and Mary D. Williams reveal how she walked this earth, lifting hearts and a movement. By the end, this deeply felt biography will leave readers reaching for her voice, too.--Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University
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Mahalia Jackson shared the gift of her musical genius with us even as she worked tirelessly to advance the cause of Black people in the United States. Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams finally give Jackson her due as a pioneering figure in the Civil Rights Movement.--Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University
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Until now, few have understood the deep connection between this gospel singer's soul-stirring sound and the struggle for social justice that shaped her public life....By taking her theomusicology seriously, Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams have given us the Mahalia Jackson we need in this moment.--Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, co-author of White Poverty
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An intriguing reassessment of the political contributions of a legendary performer.-- "Publishers Weekly"
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Mahalia Jackson's contralto was an unparalleled bell note of justice, an anchor of power and righteousness that resonated throughout the freedom movement. This magnificent work, forged with care and profound insight, finally blends her full choral range, revealing how Jackson's artistry and fierce political wisdom were inseparable....A joyous, necessary reclamation.--Rhae Lynn Barnes, Princeton University, author of Darkology
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A welcome new portrait of Mahalia Jackson and her unswerving commitment to the Civil Rights Movement....The combined talents of Timothy B. Tyson, a distinguished author, and Mary D. Williams, a powerful Black gospel singer, make this book a classic read.--William Ferris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Review Quotes:
The gospel singer Mahalia Jackson is perhaps best known as the 'opening act' for Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have a Dream' speech in Washington, D.C... But if that's all you know about her, you don't know Jackson... An enlightening and entertaining portrait of an underappreciated champion for racial equality.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Publisher Marketing:
If Americans today still recognize the name Mahalia Jackson, they might recall that she was perhaps the greatest gospel singer who ever lived. But for many people, there is no awareness at all, not even for an entertainer whose "Move On Up a Little Higher" sold eight million copies, who headlined two Newport Jazz Festivals and performed before four United States presidents.
While this rich musical legacy is admired by those in the know, virtually no one recognizes Jackson's astonishing role in American civil rights history. In this startling new depiction of the renowned gospel singer, New York Times best-selling author Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams, an acclaimed gospel singer herself, bring Jackson back to soaring life by positioning her as the major civil rights figure she, in fact, was.
Mahlia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher then traces Jackson's career from abject poverty in New Orleans to global superstardom, revealing how even after meteoric success, Jackson maintained an unwavering devotion to Black freedom. In the 1930s in Chicago, even before the Civil Rights Movement took its modern shape, she used her rapturous voice to support independent Black political power. Her work only intensified in the 1940s and beyond when she campaigned first for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later for Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson; headlined in Montgomery for the 1955-56 bus boycott; sang for the Birmingham campaign and on the Selma March; and performed at the iconic 1963 March on Washington, where she urged Martin Luther King Jr. to "Tell 'em about the dream." In retrospect what becomes historically significant is that Mahalia Jackson was present at so many civil rights events, even singing a divine rendition of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," at Dr. King's funeral in 1968. Weakened and worn, she succumbed to heart failure four years later at the age of sixty.
Weaving together Mahalia Jackson's inspiring life journey with her soulful music into a transcendent text, this biography ultimately casts Mahalia Jackson as we've never seen her before, as a guiding light for the Civil Rights Movement, whose message still speaks to our struggles today.
Review Citations:
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Publishers Weekly 05/25/2026 (EAN 9781324094616, Hardcover)
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Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2026 (EAN 9781324094616, Hardcover)
Contributor Bio:Tyson, Timothy B
Timothy B. Tyson is senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the author of five books, including
New York Times bestseller
The Blood of Emmett Till.
Contributor Bio:Williams, Mary D
Mary D. Williams is a gospel singer, civil rights historian, and former adjunct professor at Duke University. She has performed at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and lives in Garner, North Carolina.
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