Brother Hollis is the first book written by a native Mississippian who was engaged in grassroots organizing in the state as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the 1960sÉThis book takes us to the roots of MississippiÕs movement via HollisÕ rootsÑrural roots in Southwest Mississippi. Beginning with the McComb Mississippi Movement in the early days of SNCC in 1961 and continuing to his work with Southern Echo today, Watkins has dedicated his life to the freedom struggle. Thus, Brother Hollis is an in-depth analysis of the Civil Rights Movement written by one of its most important participants. Threaded throughout the book is analysis and criticism of the black leadership establishment. Watkins makes an important distinction between the NAACPÕs national leadership and its local leadership to show the diversity of ideology, strategy, and commitment by local Movement workers to the common folk of Mississippi.