Here are the voices of leaders and followers, of ordinary people who became extraordinary in the face of turmoil and violence. From the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956 to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, these are the peeople who fought the epic battle: Rosa Parks, Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams, Fannie Lou Hamer, and others, both black and white, who participated in sit-ins, Freedom Rides, voter drives, and campaigns for school and university integration.Here, too, are voices from the "Down-Home Resistance" that supported George Wallace, Bull Connor, and the "traditions" of the Old South—voices that conjure up the frightening terrain on which the battle was fought. My Soul is Rested is a powerful document of social and political history, as well as a magnificent tribute to those who made history happen.

    This illumination of the slave as an individual is really what the book is all about."--Journal of Southern History"A mammoth presentation of two centuries of slave recollections . . . extraordinary firsthand narratives that should become the premier reference volume on the slave experience for years to come."--Columbia (SC) State"The largest collection of annotated and authenticated accounts of slaves ever published in one volume. . . . So valuable a compilation is this study that its real worth cannot be measured for some time to come."--Richmond News Leader

    Barbara Williams-Skinner, Skinner Leadership Institute "Few books have touched my heart so deeply as Black and Free . A simple story. A timeless classic. Redemptive. Hopeful. A crystal clear explanation of what it means to be a true Christian-and not." - Patrick Morley, author, CEO of Man in the Mirror "My mentor, Tom Skinner was one of the greatest Christian minds and spoke persons for the Kingdom of God that the church has ever had." - Dr. Tony Evans, President, The Urban Alternative, Pastor, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship "He lovingly held the world in his heart. Now in this book, he continues to love us and teach us. I am happy to welcome Black and Free, for it tells me Tom Skinner lives." - Maya Angelou, Author, Poet

    Contrary to prevailing ideas at the time, which held that African culture disappeared quickly under slavery and that black Americans had little group pride, history, or cohesiveness, Levine uncovered a cultural treasure trove, illuminating a rich and complex African American oral tradition, including songs, proverbs, jokes, folktales, and long narrative poems called 'toasts', work that dated from before and after emancipation. The fact that these ideas and sources seem so commonplace now is in large part due this book and the scholarship that followed in its wake. A landmark work that was part of the "cultural turn" in American history, Black Culture and Black Consciousness profoundly influenced an entire generation of historians and continues to be read and taught.