Introduction -- Conditions unfavorable to the rise of the Negro : the pursuit of freedom rights before the civil rights era -- I didn't come here to knock : the making of a grassroots social movement -- We ain't going to shed a tear for Jon : school desegregation, White resistance, and the African American response -- I'm going to try to take some of the freedom here back home : the federal government and the fight for freedom rights -- We gonna show Alabama just how bad we are : the birth of the original Black Panther Party and the development of freedom politics -- Tax the rich to feed the poor : Black power and the election of 1966 -- Now is the time for work to begin : Black politics in the post-civil rights era -- Epilogue: That black dirt gets in your soul : the fight for freedom rights in the days ahead.