November 3, 1979. The Greensboro Massacre. The Klan-Nazi shootings. Whatever you want to call that day, it is a day of infamy in this city’s history. Dr. Spoma Jovanovic (Communication Studies) is the author of Democracy, Dialogue, and Community Action: Truth and Reconciliation in Greensboro, published in November 2012 by the University of Arkansas Press. The book follows the trail that led from the horror of 1979 to the formation of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2004 to the commission’s final report in 2006—and beyond.
Dr. Jovanovic worked with community members to document the work of the TRC as it tried to discover and explain what happened on that day and what resulted. Why were no police present? Why were the gunmen never convicted? The Greensboro TRC was the first in the United States to undertake this sort of examination and this book testifies to its importance. As one reviewer said, “A practical look at the messy, conflicting, and difficult work, the book explores how such work can foster greater participation in local, even national, democracy.”
