About this item
From the daughter of one of America's most virulent segregationists, a memoir that reckons with her father George Wallace's legacy of hate--and illuminates her journey towards redemption.Peggy Wallace Kennedy has been widely hailed as the "symbol of racial reconciliation" (Washington Post) . In the summer of 1963, though, she was just a young girl watching her father stand in a schoolhouse door as he tried to block two African-American students from entering the University of Alabama. This man, former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate George Wallace, was notorious for his hateful rhetoric and his political stunts. But he was also a larger-than-life father to young Peggy, who was taught to smile, sit straight, and not speak up as her father took to the political stage. At the end of his life, Wallace came to renounce his views, although he could never attempt to fully repair the damage he caused. But Peggy, after her own political awakening, dedicated her life to spreading the new Wallace message -- one of peace and compassion.In this powerful new memoir, Peggy looks back on the politics of her youth and attempts to reconcile her adored father with the man who coined the phrase "Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever."Timely and timeless, The Broken Road speaks to change, atonement, activism, and racial reconciliation.
About the Author
Born into one of the most powerful political families in the history of the American South, Peggy Wallace Kennedy is recognized as one of America's most important voices for peace and reconciliation. From her unique perspective of living behind the gates of the Alabama Governor's Mansion as her father, George Wallace, rose to become one of America's most influential populists, Peggy Wallace Kennedy offers a compelling narrative of her family's history and its relevance to the current version of the politics of rage. Her husband, Mark, served as a Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court of AlabamaTraveling with her father in 1968 during his presidential campaign, Peggy bore witness to the power of anger and fear at Wallace Rallies in America's heartland and northeastern factory cities as crowds of disaffected white men and women saw themselves in her father's eyes. And in May of 1972, she was called from a college classroom and told that her father had been gunned down in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Maryland.Peggy's own personal journey to redemption and her call for justice through reconciliation may one day be the most important and lasting public service of the Wallace/Kennedy's of Alabama. After years of standing in the shadow of others, Peggy Wallace Kennedy challenges us to believe in ourselves so that we too can walk to higher ground. And she demonstrates best the notion that none of us can be held responsible for the circumstances of our birth, but all of us will be held responsible for who we can become.Mrs. Kennedy has participated on special panels and delivered keynote addresses at national and state conferences, government agencies, corporate and special events as well as colleges, universities and high schools. She has participated in programs at the National Archives, Congressional Forums with Congressman John Lewis and on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March joined Reverend Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol as a living testament to the power of change and reconciliation.Media Appearances include CBS with Bill Plante, PBS, NPR with Michelle Norris, Sirius Radio with Joe Madison and Mark Thompson, MSNBC with Lawrence O'Donnell, the Broadcast Network of Japan, Finnish Broadcasting and Al Jazeera, US.Peggy attended Mississippi State College for Women and Troy University, receiving a degree in Special Education. Mark is a graduate of Auburn University and Cumberland School of Law. Peggy and Mark have been married forty-six years and reside in Montgomery, Alabama. Together they have two sons, Army Major Leigh Chancellor Kennedy and Morgan Burns Kennedy, their wives Stephanie and Hannah and their granddaughter, Maggie Rose.Judge Kennedy often shares his unique and often humorous insight into the psychology of contemporary southern politics. Peggy and Mark are presently co-authoring a book on their extraordinary journey
