Shange recalls her childhood home and the close-knit group of innovators that gathered there. These men of vision, brought to life by artist Kardir Nelson, lived at a time when the color of their skin dictated where they could live, what schools they could attend, and where they could sit on a bus or in a movie theatre. Children will learn about some of the people who helped create a movement during a time of social upheaval and change. This book aligns with African American history and visual arts academic standards:

     it hasn’t always been this way
     ellington was not a street
     Robeson no mere memory
     du bois walked up my father’s stairs. . .
                     Excerpt from Ellington Was Not A Street