On the Move: a Black Family's Western Saga

Book excerpt: In distinctive, engaging prose, S. R. Martin Jr. crafts the story of his forebears and their westward journey, begun even before the great black migration that occurred around the two world wars. By narrating the struggles and triumphs of his family--both paternal and maternal--during their move west, he illuminates an under-studied facet of African American history. As Martin explains it, he and his brother "arrived on the scene at the confluence of these family streams in time to catch a ride to the shining sea." Students, scholars, and interested general readers of modern African American history and sociology will be greatly rewarded by reading this warm and vivid personal and family memoir.