A black man's struggles from the Thirties through the Seventies provide the focus for this collection of essays, articles, fiction, and poetry. As a charter member of the Watts Writers Workshop, Jackson gained the attention and respect of Budd Schulberg for the stories of his childhood in Houston and his service in the army. A high school dropout, Jackson dedicated his life to writing, a habit that kept him in poverty; he worked at odd jobs until his death at age 59.