Contrary to simple textbook tales, the Civil Rights movement did not arise spontaneously in 1954 with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. The struggle for civil rights can be traced back to the arrival of the first Africans. This text tells the story of its struggle in its full context, dividing the struggle into six major periods: slavery to reconstruction; segregation to the second reconstruction; from the current backlash to the future prospects for a third reconstruction. The anthology emphasizes the role of those ignored by history, as well as the part that education and religion have played in the movement.