
Norvel
An American Hero
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Brian Abel
About this listen
Norvel Lee, an unsung historical figure, rightfully should be included on a list of famous African Americans. On a September morning in 1948 - while a member of the US Olympic team, a Howard University student, and a veteran of World War 2 - Norvel Lee was arrested for taking a seat in the white section of a segregated train in rural Virginia. Thorough research of the facts about Jim Crow laws shows that Norvel Lee's appeal of the case resulted in a landmark civil rights decision.
©2020 Kenneth F. Conklin LLC (P)2020 Kenneth F. Conklin LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
Mighty Justice
- My Life in Civil Rights
- By: Dovey Johnson Roundtree, Katie McCabe
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mighty Justice, trailblazing African American civil rights attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree recounts her inspiring life story that speaks movingly and urgently to our racially troubled times. From the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, to the segregated courtrooms of the nation’s capital; from the male stronghold of the army where she broke gender and color barriers to the pulpits of churches where women had waited for years for the right to minister - in all these places, Dovey Johnson Roundtree sought justice.
-
-
Remarkable!
- By Stacey on 12-05-19
By: Dovey Johnson Roundtree, and others
-
News for All the People
- The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
- By: Juan Gonzalez, Joseph Torres
- Narrated by: Juan Gonzalez
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
News for All the People reveals how racial segregation distorted the information Americans received from the mainstream media. It unearths numerous examples of how publishers and broadcasters actually fomented racial violence and discrimination through their coverage. And it chronicles the influence federal media policies exerted in such conflicts. It depicts the struggle of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American journalists who fought to create a vibrant yet little-known alternative, democratic press.
-
-
Eye opening
- By Rosario on 04-13-21
By: Juan Gonzalez, and others
-
The Matter of Black Lives
- Writing from The New Yorker
- By: Jelani Cobb, David Remnick
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Adjoa Andoh, January LaVoy, and others
- Length: 30 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of The New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America - including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more - with a foreword by Jelani Cobb.
-
-
Im in the game
- By Am on 12-24-23
By: Jelani Cobb, and others
-
Be Free or Die
- The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero
- By: Cate Lineberry
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a 23-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces.
-
-
Great Book about a Great man
- By Evan on 02-19-18
By: Cate Lineberry
-
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
- By: Coretta Scott King, Barbara Reynolds
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Phylicia Rashad
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life story of Coretta Scott King - wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist - as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising Black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose.
-
-
Inspirational memoir
- By Jean on 01-30-17
By: Coretta Scott King, and others
-
Major Taylor
- The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame
- By: Conrad Kerber, Terry Kerber
- Narrated by: Barrie Buckner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the Tour de France’s fallen heroes, the story of one of history’s most legendary cyclists provides a much-needed antidote. In 1907 the world’s most popular athlete was not Cy Young or Ty Cobb. Rather, he was a black bicycle racer named "Major” Taylor. In his day, Taylor became a spiritual and athletic idol. He was the fastest man in America and a champion who prevailed over unspeakable cruelty. The men who aided him were among the most colorful to emerge from the era.
-
-
Great book terrible narrator
- By B. P. H. on 10-31-18
By: Conrad Kerber, and others
-
Mighty Justice
- My Life in Civil Rights
- By: Dovey Johnson Roundtree, Katie McCabe
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mighty Justice, trailblazing African American civil rights attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree recounts her inspiring life story that speaks movingly and urgently to our racially troubled times. From the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, to the segregated courtrooms of the nation’s capital; from the male stronghold of the army where she broke gender and color barriers to the pulpits of churches where women had waited for years for the right to minister - in all these places, Dovey Johnson Roundtree sought justice.
-
-
Remarkable!
- By Stacey on 12-05-19
By: Dovey Johnson Roundtree, and others
-
News for All the People
- The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
- By: Juan Gonzalez, Joseph Torres
- Narrated by: Juan Gonzalez
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
News for All the People reveals how racial segregation distorted the information Americans received from the mainstream media. It unearths numerous examples of how publishers and broadcasters actually fomented racial violence and discrimination through their coverage. And it chronicles the influence federal media policies exerted in such conflicts. It depicts the struggle of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American journalists who fought to create a vibrant yet little-known alternative, democratic press.
-
-
Eye opening
- By Rosario on 04-13-21
By: Juan Gonzalez, and others
-
The Matter of Black Lives
- Writing from The New Yorker
- By: Jelani Cobb, David Remnick
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Adjoa Andoh, January LaVoy, and others
- Length: 30 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of The New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America - including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more - with a foreword by Jelani Cobb.
-
-
Im in the game
- By Am on 12-24-23
By: Jelani Cobb, and others
-
Be Free or Die
- The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero
- By: Cate Lineberry
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a 23-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbor and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces.
-
-
Great Book about a Great man
- By Evan on 02-19-18
By: Cate Lineberry
-
My Life, My Love, My Legacy
- By: Coretta Scott King, Barbara Reynolds
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Phylicia Rashad
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life story of Coretta Scott King - wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist - as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising Black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose.
-
-
Inspirational memoir
- By Jean on 01-30-17
By: Coretta Scott King, and others
-
Major Taylor
- The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame
- By: Conrad Kerber, Terry Kerber
- Narrated by: Barrie Buckner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the Tour de France’s fallen heroes, the story of one of history’s most legendary cyclists provides a much-needed antidote. In 1907 the world’s most popular athlete was not Cy Young or Ty Cobb. Rather, he was a black bicycle racer named "Major” Taylor. In his day, Taylor became a spiritual and athletic idol. He was the fastest man in America and a champion who prevailed over unspeakable cruelty. The men who aided him were among the most colorful to emerge from the era.
-
-
Great book terrible narrator
- By B. P. H. on 10-31-18
By: Conrad Kerber, and others
-
The Girl at the Back of the Bus
- By: Suzette D. Harrison
- Narrated by: Jordan Frazier & Sirena Riley
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold December evening, Mattie Banks packs a suitcase and leaves her family home. Sixteen years old and pregnant, she has already made the mistake that will ruin her life and disgrace her widowed mother. Boarding the 2857 bus, she sits with her case on her lap, hoping that the driver will take her away from disaster. Instead, Mattie witnesses an act of bravery by a woman named Rosa Parks that changes everything. But as Mattie strives to turn her life around, the dangers that first led her to run are never far away.
-
-
Beautiful!!!
- By C. L. Wells on 12-24-22
-
Black Radical
- The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter
- By: Kerri K. Greenidge
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934), although still virtually unknown to the wider public, was an unlikely American hero. With the stylistic verve of a newspaperman and the unwavering fearlessness of an emancipator, he galvanized Black working-class citizens to wield their political power despite the violent racism of post-Reconstruction America. For more than 30 years, the Harvard-educated Trotter edited and published the Guardian, a weekly Boston newspaper that was read across the nation.
-
-
Intentional Texts
- By The Alchemist on 02-28-21
-
The Awkward Black Man
- Stories
- By: Walter Mosley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mosley presents distinct characters as they struggle to move through the world in each of these stories - heroes who are awkward, nerdy, self-defeating, self-involved, and, on the whole, odd. He overturns the stereotypes that corral black male characters and paints a subtle, powerful portrait of each of these unique individuals.
-
-
Don't just listen, think.
- By Alonzo on 04-13-21
By: Walter Mosley
-
Surrender, White People!
- Our Unconditional Terms for Peace
- By: D. L. Hughley, Doug Moe
- Narrated by: D. L. Hughley
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Surrender, white people! After 400 years of white supremacy in America, a reckoning is here. Time to listen up, look history in the face, and surrender unjust privilege. These are the terms of peace - and they are unconditional. Hope you have a sense of humor, because this is going to sting. The legendary activist/comedian and author of the “hilarious yet soul-shaking” (Black Enterprise) best seller How Not to Get Shot returns to address a nation on the edge of civil war.
-
-
This book trivializes racism and is embarrassing
- By Bradley on 08-22-20
By: D. L. Hughley, and others
-
Make Me Rain
- Poems & Prose
- By: Nikki Giovanni
- Narrated by: Nikki Giovanni
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 30 years, Nikki Giovanni's poetry has inspired, enlightened, and dazzled readers and listeners. As sharp and outspoken as ever, this artist long hailed as a healer and a sage returns with this profound book of poetry in which she continues to call attention to injustice and give listeners an unfiltered look into the most private parts of herself. In Make Me Rain, she celebrates her loved ones and unapologetically declares her pride in her Black heritage, while exploring the enduring impact of the twin sins of racism and white nationalism.
-
-
Visceral
- By Anonymous User on 01-26-25
By: Nikki Giovanni
-
Sooley
- A Novel
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of his 17th year, Samuel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basketball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.
-
-
Wow! Just wow!
- By Amazon Customer on 04-28-21
By: John Grisham
-
The Other Madisons
- The Lost History of a President's Black Family
- By: Bettye Kearse
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Other Madisons, Bettye Kearse - a descendant of a slave named Coreen and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison - finally shares her family story, exploring legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth.
-
-
Enlightening
- By D C on 08-24-20
By: Bettye Kearse
-
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick
- Stories from the Harlem Renaissance
- By: Zora Neale Hurston
- Narrated by: Aunjanue Ellis
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is an outstanding collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism that proudly reflect African-American folk culture. Brought together for the first time in one volume, they include eight of Hurston’s "lost" Harlem stories, which were found in forgotten periodicals and archives. These stories challenge conceptions of Hurston as an author of rural fiction and include gems that flash with her biting, satiric humor, as well as more serious tales.
-
-
Great Writer - Great Reader
- By Avid Listener on 09-09-20
-
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
- By: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the next installment in a six volume autobiography that began more than thirty years ago with the appearance of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In A Song Flung Up to Heaven Maya Angelou describes her poignant encounters with Martin Luther King, Jr.; her work with the civil rights movement; and witnessing the Watts riots. Battered by the loss of revered black leaders, it takes writer James Baldwin to finally force her out of isolation with a dinner party that inspired her to write.
-
-
best book I have listened to
- By Cynthia on 03-18-03
By: Maya Angelou
-
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
- The Untold Story of 18 African Americans Who Defied Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to Compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics
- By: Deborah Riley Draper, Blair Underwood, Travis Thrasher
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From burning crosses set on the Robinsons’s lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is full of emotion, grit, political upheaval, and the American dream. Capturing a powerful and untold chapter of history, the narrative is also a celebration of the courage, commitment, and accomplishments of these talented athletes and their impact on race, sports and inclusion around the world.
-
-
History I never knew...
- By Malcolm Drewery on 10-01-21
By: Deborah Riley Draper, and others
-
Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story
- A Blind Broadcaster's Story of Overcoming Life's Greatest Obstacles
- By: Ed Lucas, Christopher Lucas, Ed Lucas - introduction
- Narrated by: Christopher Lucas
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soon to be a major motion picture, Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story is the incredible true tale of a beloved Emmy-winning blind broadcaster who refused to let his disability prevent him from overcoming many challenging obstacles and achieving his dreams.
-
-
Outstanding motivational book!
- By D. Whatley on 03-16-20
By: Ed Lucas, and others
-
Smokin' Joe
- The Life of Joe Frazier
- By: Mark Kram
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping, all-access biography of Joe Frazier, whose rivalry with Muhammad Ali riveted boxing fans and whose legacy as a figure in American sports and society endures.
-
-
Great to learn about Smokin' Joe even with flaws
- By Ishmael Angaluuk Hope on 07-15-22
By: Mark Kram
What listeners say about Norvel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-11-21
An inspirational American!
I enjoyed the fascinating life story of Norvel Lee. Truly a person worthy of great publicity even as he deflected it to others in his life. I hope to see the movie made some day!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-21-24
Interesting
An interesting story of a man I had never heard of. However, his main influence seems to be in the areas of sport (boxing), eduucation, and as a roll model. Although he definately pushed for equal rights, and dealt admirably with the predjudices he faced, this is much more a story about an admirable man than about the civil rights movement per se. (I would have liked to see more background information, for example, of what life in the army was like for a black serviceman.) A good 70-80 % of the book is about his years as a boxer, although interesting to a non -boxing fan like myself.
Brian Abel does an excellent job with the narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!