In these troubled times, wisdom often seems in short supply. But as this magnificent volume reminds us, African Americans have been blessed with a precious legacy of wisdom, gained through long, hard years of struggle by those who have gone before. Wisdom is the most hallowed gift born of experience and endurance. The life-affirming guidance in The Wisdom of the Elders has been gleaned from this bountiful harvest and includes some of the most electrifying and deeply moving writings and speeches ever produced. Here are the unedited works of such luminaries as Sojourner Truth, W. E. B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., Elijah Muhammad, Lorraine Hansberry, Thurgood Marshall, Zora Neale Hurston, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Marcus Garvey, Barbara Jordan, Paul Robeson, Jean Toomer, and many others.