For the one or two semester African- American History course. A compelling story of agency: survival, struggle, and triumph over adversity. More than any other text, The African-American Odysseyilluminates the central place of African Americans in U.S. historynot only telling the story of what it has meant to be black in America, but also how African-American history is inseparably weaved into the greater context of American history. The text provides accounts of the lives of ordinary men and women alongside those of key African Americans and the impact they have had on the struggle for equality.