Maintaining Sanity in the Midst of Unrelenting Oppression

When asked by the publisher of this manuscript to write a brief statement for the cover of this book, we were immediately driven to the second stanza of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' by James Weldon Johnson and J.R. Rosamond Johnson.The second stanza says,Stony the road we trodBitter the chastening rodFelt in the days when hope unborn had diedYet with a steady beatHave not our weary feetCome to the place for which our fathers sighed?We have come over a way that with tears has been wateredWe have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughteredOut from the gloomy pastTill now we stand at lastWhere the white gleam of our bright star is castTo our sisters and brothers, keep praying, keep singing, and keep going to safe places to cry! Our sanity demands.