In this history of the modern Civil Rights movement, the author focuses on the monumental events that occurred between 1954 (the year of Brown v. the Board of Education) and 1968 (the year that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated). Beginning with an overview of the movement since the end of the Civil War, McWhorter also discusses such events as the 1956 MTGS bus boycott, the 1961 Freedom Rides, and the 1963 demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, among others. The author uses interviews she conducted personally with.

Brown v. the Board of Education -- Emmett Till -- The Montgomery bus boycott -- Little Rock -- The sit-ins -- The Freedom Rides -- The Albany Movement -- Ole Miss -- Birmingham -- Stand in the schoolhouse door -- The Second Emancipation proclamation -- The March on Washington -- The Birmingham church bombing -- The beloved community -- Mississippi Freedom Summer -- Selma -- Malcolm X -- Watts -- Black Power and the Meredith March -- Chicago -- The Black Panthers -- Memphis.