March With Me
March with Me
I had three main reasons for writing this book.
First, I wanted to write about the Children’s March. I consider it the first of several pivotal events that led our country to finally establish civil rights legislation.The fact that most people in our country today have either forgotten or never knew about the Children’s March was a strong motivation for my book.
The second reason for writing MARCH WITH ME came from meetings within the black and white communities over a few years. Conversation almost always came to the point of saying that young people today really have no understanding of what life was like before the civil rights movement, and no realization of what that generation went through. Thus, I was determined to write a very readable account of what life was actually like for both blacks and whites during those turbulent years.
My third reason for writing this book, and probably my strongest, is based in my belief in the importance of reconciliation. I have seen across the entire country that while people of different races are integrated, they still miss being connected on a deeper level. In order to make that connection a certain measure of reconciliation must occur. That begins with dialogue.
Perhaps MARCH WITH ME will be a vehicle for that dialogue.
My challenge to you, the reader, is to consider the questions that follow and discuss them with friends, book clubs, etc. My greater challenge is for you to get together with others of another race and have a dialogue to share ideas and understandings.
“March With Me is a compelling narrative of a crucial period in our nation’s history.” – Alma (Mrs. Colin) Powell
“Rosalie Turner has made a significant contribution to the cause of racial reconciliation in our country.” – Former Mississippi Governor William Winter, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation
“Kudos to Rosalie Turner for being courageous to step into the mind of another, and for being willing to want to tell the story accurately.” – Tori Bailey, general manager WZZA, one of the first African-American owned radio stations licensed in Alabama
“Turner tells an engaging story with memorable supporting characters….A solid, timely novel.” – Kirkus Reviews
ROSALIE T. TURNER
Award-winning author, Rosalie T. Turner, is a civil rights historian who writes stories that embody the struggles of African Americans. Her book, Sisters of Valor, received the Military Writers Society of America Bronze Award for Fiction. Her book March With Me, was both a 2013 INDIES Winner and USA Best Book finalist and her book Freedom Bound received the Florida First Coast Writers’ Award.
An Endowed Professorship at Texas A&M University – Commerce has been named in honor of Frank and Rosalie Turner for their work in Race and Reconciliation. Rosalie and Frank have been leading pilgrimages of students from the university to Alabama and Mississippi, reaching many hundreds of students. These have been developed into 3 credit hour classes. The university has expanded the idea of exposing students to the civil rights struggle in our nation hoping to empower them to move forward with some kind of action.
Rosalie is a graduate of Mary Washington College, which at that time was the women’s college of UVA. She has worked as a juvenile probation officer and as a Director of Christian Education. Rosalie was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom but worked through volunteer activities, including Headstart Program, Habitat for Humanity, a jail ministry, teaching adult literacy and English as a Second Language, and tutoring in the inner city.
While living in Jacksonville, FL, Rosalie received the JC Penney Award for establishing a summer reading program in the inner city. Rosalie has always been very active in her church wherever she has lived. Her family has moved 18 times due to her husband’s career.
Rosalie and her husband Frank Kile Turner had celebrated 61 years of marriage before his death in January, 2025. The Turners have two sons, Kile who with his wife Sara (both attorneys) live in Birmingham, Alabama. Joel along with his wife Kelly, live in Durham, North Carolina. Joel is a homicide detective and Kelly is a public health nurse. Rosalie and Frank lost a third son, Terry, to leukemia when he was ten years old. Rosalie and Frank have 6 grandchildren.
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