Middle passages, middlemen : Europe, Africa, America, and the slave trade -- Many thousands born : the roots of African America -- Slaves and citizens : African America in the age of Revolution -- "A new birth of freedom" : the destruction of slavery and Reconstruction of Black life -- Ragtime : race and nation at the dawn of the twentieth century -- "A second emancipation" : the great migrations of the twentieth century -- "A second Reconstruction" : the freedom movement -- Citizens of the nation, citizens of the world : African America in the twenty-first century.