Includes index.

Foreword / Oprah Winfrey -- Introduction / Nicole Hannah-Jones -- PERSEVERANCE. Rev. Amos Brown -- Clayborne Carson -- Claudette Colvin -- Betty Daniels Rosemond -- Harry Edwards -- Fred David Gray --Alice Green -- Opal Lee -- Betty Reid Soskin -- Barbara Smith -- George Starke Jr. -- Joyce Walker-Joseph -- CREATIVITY. Anna Bailey -- André De Shields -- Simon Estes -- Mary Jackson -- Patti Labelle -- Earl Thorpe -- Ben Vereen -- Dionne Warwick -- Bob Wesley -- Paula Whaley -- STRENGTH. James Barber -- Myrtis Dightman -- Skip Grant -- Lillian Greene-Chamberlain -- Louis Moore -- Robby Robinson -- Herman Williams -- INNOVATION. Joseph Anderson -- Guion "Guy" Bluford -- Melissa Freeman -- Gladys Jennings -- Vivian Pinn -- Herlda Senhouse -- Valerie L. Thomas -- Faye Wattleton -- INSPIRATION. Nina Bellamy -- Alvin Brooks -- George W. Burnette III -- Norman C. Francis -- Clarice Freeman -- Pearlie Harris -- Otis Johnson -- Dollie McLean -- Pearlie Newton -- Ruth Simmons -- Flora Wharton -- ELOQUENCE. Adrianne Baughns-Wallace -- Marie Brown -- Dorothy Butler Gilliam -- Barbara Rodgers -- Quincy Troupe -- Cecil William.

Presenting interviews with more than fifty members of the oldest generation of Black Americans, including civil rights activists, hometown heroes, celebrities and many others, this testament to the strength and stories behind these individuals reveals their lives, experiences, and wisdom.