Faith and Struggle in the Lives of Four African Americans

In 1964, Muhammad Ali said of his decision to join the Nation of Islam: “I know where I''m going and I know the truth and I don''t have to be what you want me to be. I''m free to be what I want to be.”

This sentiment, the brash assertion of individual freedom, informs and empowers each of the four personalities profiled in this book. Randal Maurice Jelks shows that to understand the Black America...