This is a "MUST" read! The author, Isabel Wilkerson, has done an outstanding job of compiling research covering numerous years (1915 to 1970) of the migration within the United States of the southern black populace from the south to the north and west. The story, which reads like fiction, is told using three characters who represent some of the populace seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Many readers will see themselves, family members, friends and/or the community that they live/d in through the experiences that the characters endured. Other readers will find the struggles of the characters to be "heart-wrenching, eye-opening and unbelievable". This story should be required reading in every college program.