"This small snapshot of the protest movement pays homage to both the
determination of ordinary folk and the power of Dr. King's words. . . .
An intergenerational story filled with heart and soul." -- Kirkus
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When Alex spies a mule chomping on greens in a nearby garden, he can't
help but ask about it. "Ol' Belle?" says Miz Pettway. "She can have all
the collards she wants. She's earned it." And so begins the tale of an
ordinary mule in Gee's Bend, Alabama, that played a singular part in the
civil rights movement of the 1960s. When African-Americans in a poor
community -- inspired by a visit from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. --
defied local authorities who were trying to stop them from registering
to vote, many got around a long, imposed detour on mule-drawn wagons. As
Alex looks into the eyes of gentle Belle, he begins to understand a
significant time in history in a very personal way.