This history of African Americans begins with the first Africans who were captured and enslaved, and then moves up through the present day. “The people remember that Great Migration to new lands, to new borders where sharecropping hands were now factory machine fingers. The people toiled and labored, working new roads, the houses, the skyscraping towers reaching for that great big American sun.” The naïve-style illustrations and the poetic text provide an unflinching look at Black history by integrating the seven principles of Kwanzaa: umoja/unity; kujichagulia/self-determination; ujima/collective work and responsibility; ujamaa/cooperative economics; nia/purpose; kuumba/creativity; and imani/faith. The inclusion of the principles may make this a mainstay of family Kwanzaa celebrations, but the book also stands on its own as a powerful historical account. (Ages 7-12)

This book tells the journey of African descendants in America by connecting their history to the seven principles of Kwanzaa. It begins in Africa, where people were taken from their homes and families. They spoke different languages and had different customs. Yet they were bound and chained together and forced onto ships sailing into an unknown future. Ultimately, all these people had to learn one common language and create a culture that combined their memories of home with new traditions that enabled them to thrive in this new land. This is a story young readers can visit over and over again to deepen their understanding of African American history in relation to their own lives and to social justice movements. By turns powerful and revealing, this is a lyrical narrative that tells the story of survival, as well as the many moments of joy, celebration, and innovation of Black people in America--Description from Amazon.