Examines the history of African Americans from their African past through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to contemporary problems and accomplishments.

The African past -- Before the Mayflower -- The founding of black America -- Behind the cotton curtain -- Blood on the leaves: revolts and conspiracies -- The generation of crisis -- Black, blue and gray: the Civil War nobody knows -- Black power in Dixie -- The life and times of Jim Crow -- Red, white and black: race and sex -- From Booker T. Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. -- The time of the whale -- The African-American century -- The perseverance of the black spirit -- Black America's gifts to America and the world -- Landmarks and milestones -- Black firsts.