From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream - New Edition

New Edition

A Powerful, Compelling, and Inspiring True Story

For girls and women who seek to discover their purpose in life, their role in society, and dare not let any obstacle stop them from realizing their quest, their dream-no matter the place of their birth, socioeconomic status, or station in life-which, after all, is America's promise.

A native daughter of Mississippi, Janice Ellis grew up and came of age during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Liberation Movement. Caught in the nexus of those two powerful social movements, and the culture of the times, she became determined to take a stand and not accept nor allow oppressive racial segregation and entrenched sexism to limit what she could become.
 
It was her love of books, and her exposure to renowned columnists Eric Sevareid of The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and Walter Lippmann—whose syndicated column appeared for more than three decades in over 250 major newspapers across the United States and 50 abroad in Europe and Asia—that help shape the trajectory of her life's work.
 
While studying Lippmann's columns and books, she was inspired to complete a Master of Arts degree in Communication Arts, a second Master of Arts degree in Political Science, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Arts, all from the University of Wisconsin. It was during her course of study that her unwavering belief—the belief that the wise use of words is what advances the good society—was solidified.
 
Being a journalist has not been her formal training or her career profession. Becoming an advocate journalist has been her calling.  As circumstances, issues, and forces—social, political, economic—occur all around her, and push against her, she has chosen to push back. She has consciously entered and continues to enter the fray, using the power of words—the only real and lasting weapon she has.

This book vividly recounts the trials and triumphs that have shaped her and her writings.