From Poverty, Through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity

Book excerpt: From his birth in 1924 in Bainbridge, Georgia, in a small African-American hospital, author William I. Jones Sr. spent the first nineteen years of his life trying to survive and dream the impossible-which was the American dream. Coming of age in a time of dramatic social change in the United States, he presents not only biographical and autobiographical details and facts about his family, but he also provides heartfelt and sincere commentary on society and politics, race, family issues, war and military service, and education and science. Covering nine decades, From Poverty through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity tells how Jones traveled and witnessed many changes not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. He tells his story as a contribution to African-American history.