She does not focus on the larger than life names such as Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, nor mass marches as in Washington in 1963. Mary King s story is woven together with the songs that were so important to the movement. Each chapter begins with the words to songs such as Danville, where she gives the details of the time she spent in Danville, Mississippi and Jail the chapter that tells of here arrest for an unplanned sit-in at the Toddle House coffee shop in Atlanta. Her story is a unique reflection of experiences that also offers great insight on a historic social movement. With the vast amount of writing on the 1960s and civil rights, it would be easy for SNCC to get lost or be misunderstood.
Most undergraduate textbooks list it as a radical organization.
While becoming increasingly aware of the dangerous nature of racism in the south, SNCC workers were disillusioned with the lack of protection provided to them by the federal government. The essence of SNCC radicalism was their insistence that all people, regardless of race, class, education, or sex, should participate in American politics. This radicalism is best shown in the pages of Freedom Song through the work of the SNCC field staff. The main goal of SNCC, during its years of greatest effectiveness, was to mobilize black communities to have a political voice. The best evidence of this is the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964.