The Path to Freedom

T?he struggle for black freedom and equality is a legacy that belongs to all Americans. In the twentieth century, this story of triumph over injustice inspired the spread of democracy around the world. From the villages of Eastern Europe to the cities of Asia and Africa, people have found new strength, hope and courage in the ways African Americans defeated Jim Crow segregation in the United States. Liberty and equality required the sacrifices of many African Americans who lived and made a difference in New Jersey, including the Russell, Ham and Brown families whom Walter Greason documents in this book. This contemporary narrative of community uplift offers a fresh appreciation of just how long the path to justice is.

Walter David Greason is an associate professor of history and American studies as well as the coordinator of the African American and Africana Studies Program at Ursinus College in suburban Pennsylvania. He has published work on race, segregation and metropolitan growth in publications ranging from Planning Perspectives to the Journal of African American History to Next American City magazine. Greason is one of the nation's foremost experts on suburbs, especially in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.