The book discusses the several efforts made by various people in ensuring that black people would attain some level of recognition and gain a better position in the American society. For instance, the efforts made by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are depicted to have brought about a huge positive impact the position held by African Americans as they portrayed the challenges that African Americans faced in the past. Through protests, such as those led by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., African Americans eventually got a chance to rise above white supremacy and ended up having Obama, as a first African American, to become president, the highest seat in the country. Many African Americans saw people like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. as their heroes because of their continued efforts in championing for their rights. It is also evident that African Americans were out to open up regarding the various challenges they experienced. For instance, they spoke out openly regarding skyrocketing murder rates and the plague of HIV/AIDS (Coates 22). This shows how African Americans were not comfortable with the life that they had been exposed to in the past and, thus, struggled to see have much better outcomes out of it.