The Life and Triumphs of Civil-Rights Pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree Will Be Immortalized in Upcoming Film

According to the Seymour Tribune, a memoir by the late civil-rights pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree will not only be reissued but adapted into an upcoming film. Suggested Reading Chicago’s Mayor Claps Back at Trump Deeming the City the Next ICE Target Black Folks Have a Strong Reaction to Trump Dropping the U.S. in the Middle…

According to the Seymour Tribune, a memoir by the late civil-rights pioneer Dovey Johnson Roundtree will not only be reissued but adapted into an upcoming film.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power

On Monday, Algonquin Books announced plans for a 10th-anniversary edition of Roundtreeโ€™s Mighty Justice, due out next November. Originally titled Justice Older Than the Law, it will be co-written by Katie McCabe.

Also of note: middle grade and picture book versions of her memoir will be published via Roaring Brook Press while its film rights have been acquired by Red Crown Productions. Octavia Spencer will serve as executive producer.

Roundtree was a criminal-defense lawyer who played a key role in the desegregation of interstate bus travel. Over the course of a distinguished career that spanned nearly half a century, she vigorously defended black churches, community groups, politicians and lower-income clientele, in addition to serving as a mentor to several generations of black lawyers.

She also served as the inspiration for Cicely Tysonโ€™s character in the 1990โ€™s TV series Sweet Justice.

In May, she died at an assisted-living facility in Charlotte, N.C., at the age of 104. According to her cousin and law partner Jerry L. Hunter, she died from Alzheimerโ€™s disease complications.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.