Destiny's Child

"Destiny's Child: Memoirs of a Preacher's Daughter" delivers a powerful and compelling story about an African American family who survives centuries of racial and social struggles to succeed and achieve upward mobility despite numerous obstacles. Part family history, part memoir, "Destiny's Child" is a thoroughly researched presentation of author Jewelle Taylor Gibbs's roots, both in terms of her mixed-racial heritage and the other prominent figures that helped her develop her identity over the years. It chronicles more than two hundred years of her paternal family's strides and highlights their contributions to the civil rights movement in the United States, often motivated by such well-known pioneers as Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., and Dorothy Height, who were family friends, role models, and mentors. Gibbs attributes her own success to her family's legacy and values, which were anchored in religion, education, economic resources, and political activism.

An intelligent, informative, and insightful account, "Destiny's Child" is sure to appeal to students of US history, African American studies, women's studies, and the social sciences at large. It will inevitably inspire and encourage younger people of color in their efforts to advance equal rights.