The Long Journey to Freedom

For nearly four centuries, Black Americans have fought to claim the freedom and equality promised by a nation they helped build.

The Long Journey to Freedom tells that history through the experiences of the people who lived it. Beginning with the arrival of the first recorded Africans in English North America in 1619, the book follows generations of men, women, and families through slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, and the election of America's first Black president.

This is not simply a history of wars, court decisions, elections, and famous speeches. It is a human story: enslaved people who held their families together under unimaginable circumstances, Black soldiers who fought for a country that denied them equal rights, parents who wanted better lives for their children, and ordinary citizens who found the courage to stand against injustice.

Drawing on careful historical research, Michael Miner brings readers closer to the heartbreak, determination, faith, and triumph behind the events that shaped America. He examines the progress the nation has made while refusing to overlook the terrible price paid along the way.

Honest, accessible, and ultimately hopeful. Their journey changed America. Their story belongs to all of us.