Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream

MAKING OUR WAY HOME: THE GREAT MIGRATION AND THE BLACK AMERICAN DREAM is divided into seven chapters, each covering a span of years. "Separate But Equal (post-Civil War Reconstruction-1919)" begins with hope, as Black men are elected or appointed to local, state, and federal offices. But this hope is shattered by violence and the implementation of "separate but equal" policies. The first wave of migrants moving North in search of jobs begins in 1916, but they're met with racism, discrimination, and too often violence. "Beautiful -- And Ugly, Too" (1920-1929) details the Harlem Renaissance of Black writers, poets, and musicians that would help define a new chapter in Black identity and the massacre of Black citizens in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In "I, Too, Am America" (1930-1939), the Great Depression brings the first wave of immigration to a close and the New Deal, which promised help to Americans in need, offers little to Black Americans. "Liberty and Justice for All" (1940-1949) sees the second wave of immigration begin, as almost 5 million people leave the South and move to cities across America. The million Black men and women who served in the armed forces during World War II return from the war to find to racism, housing discrimination, and limited or no access to the GI Bill. "Trouble Ahead" (1950-1959) chronicles the beginning of the civil rights movement, the Supreme Court decision that found school segregation illegal, and Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bu. "The Time Is in the Street, You Know" (1960-1969) explores a decade of violence and social change that included Black Power, Black Is Beautiful, the Black Panthers, Motown, Freedom Riders, voter registration, Vietnam, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In the final chapter "All Power to All People" (1970-1979), the period of Black migration comes to an end, hip hop is born, Black enrollment in college soars, and Roots becomes one of the most watched shows in television history.