Join us on February 1 to kick off Black History Month with author M. J. O’Brien, whose powerful We Shall Not Be Moved explores the iconic image taken at the 1963 Woolworth’s sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi.

O’Brien talked to all of those at the counter and even some in the crowd to create a riveting narrative of explosive, conflicting interests during a turbulent time in our nation’s history. Published in 2013, the book won the prestigious Lillian Smith Book Award a year later.

O’Brien worked for 30 years as a communications and public relations executive with a national rural utility financial services cooperative before launching a second career as an independent writer. He is a member of
the Fredericksburg Food Co-op and lives in Vienna, Virginia.