Join author Forest Issac Jones in conversation with Amanda Ferguson about his new book, Good Trouble, exploring the connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the US and the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland.

Focusing on the 1960s and 70s, this fascinating book shows how the Montgomery to Selma march in Alabama influenced the 1969 Belfast to Derry march, drawing upon oral history and interviews with people who were on the front lines.

Meet the author

Forest Issac Jones is an award-winning author of non-fiction and essays, specialising in the study of Irish History, the US Civil Rights Movement, and Northern Ireland. His latest essay, The Civil Rights Connection Between the USA and Northern Ireland was awarded honorable mention in the category of non-fiction essay by Writer’s Digest in their annual writing competition in 2024. Forest won awards from Writer’s Digest in 2022 and 2023. His award-winning essay about African Americans at D-Day was published in 2024 by WWII History Magazine. His first nonfiction book, Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972 was released by Anthem Press in April 2025. He has presented Good Trouble at the Martin Luther King Library in Washington, DC and the Frederick Douglass Celebration Week in Boston at the Irish Embassy. He is currently an adjunct professor at James Madison University and lives in Salem, Virginia.