Tasting Freedom

Wed., Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m., free, Free Library, Central Branch, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341, freelibrary.org.

by Josh Middleton

[ reading/signing ]

Nearly a century before the Freedom Riders took off in their buses to raise hell across the segregated South, Philadelphian Octavius Catto began forming his "band of brothers." This spirited team of former slaves, religious leaders and educators set the state on fire by orchestrating demonstrations against the post-Civil War-era laws that reinforced racial disparity. To shine a light on this little-known revolutionary hero, Daniel R. Biddle and Murray Dubin wrote Tasting Freedom (Temple, Aug. 13), a fat biography that chronicles Catto's achievements as an activist, teacher and local sports star, and discusses how his local efforts paved the way for more modern movers and shakers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.