The Life of a Movement Lawyer

Be inspired by this grassroots civil rights lawyer's quest for equity and justice

Born in 1947 and raised in rural South Carolina, Lewis Pitts grew up oblivious to the civil rights revolution underway across his native state and throughout the country. A directionless, white college student, in 1968 Pitts committed to military service and was destined for Vietnam. Five years later—after a formative period in which he underwent an intellectual and moral awakening, was discharged as a conscientious objector, and graduated from law school—he embarked on an unlikely forty-year career as a crusading social justice attorney.

The Life of a Movement Lawyer: Lewis Pitts and the Struggle for Democracy, Equality, and Justice chronicles how Pitts positively affected thousands of lives working in civil rights movements for social change.

Beyond documenting a life well-lived and shedding light on lesser-known activists and movements, Jason Langberg in this thoroughly researched biography explores issues that continue to threaten American democracy: poverty; climate change; police brutality; voter suppression; and corporate power. Pitts' life will energize, inspire, and compel action in those who seek to continue the pursuit of increased justice for all.