Included here are selections written by black and white social scientists, psychiatrists, historians, and political figures offered in careful juxtaposition. Among the contributors are Raymond and Alice Bauer, Robert Blauner, Stokely Carmichael, Erik Erikson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Joyce Ladner, C. Eric Lincoln, August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, Tom Mboya, Gerald Mullin, Alvin Poussaint, and Mike Thelwell.

Volume I, Slavery and Its Aftermath, addresses four other issues: the retention of "Africanisms;" the impact of slavery on personality and culture; differences in the experiences of living in the South and North; and matters of community, class and family.

Originally published in 1970, these volumes have stood the test of time. Each of the issues considered still resonate in American society and all are critical to understanding many matters that still confront many Americans from Africa.