What is the theme in The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon?

One of the major themes in The Rock and the River is change, or the different ways of perpetuating change. The novel's main character, Sam Childs, is torn between his father's peaceful activism in the Civil Rights Movement, as opposed to the radical movement of the Black Panthers. Over the course of the novel, we see Sam's struggle in deciding which movement best reflects his own beliefs.