Voices in Our Blood.

Voices in Our Blood Edited by Jon Meacham Random House, January 2001, $29.95, ISBN 0-679-46296-1

Without question, the civil rights movement was one of the most significant periods in American history. Meacham's new book, which pays homage to the period, is a compilation of work spotlighting some of the nation's most powerful and vociferous writers and journalists.

Much of the text reprints outstanding and previously published articles that define the movement. From classic pieces such as 1955's "Notes of a Native Son" by James Baldwin, to 1993's "A Hostile and Welcoming Workplace" by Ellis Close, Voices in Our Blood is an empowering anthology that vividly displays the struggles and pain that African Americans have endured for centuries.

Perhaps one of the book's best elements is that readers will be hard pressed to find anything similar to it on the market. Excerpts from such classic texts as Maya Angelou's, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and informative news articles by William Faulkner and Calvin Trillin, will likely generate the same excitement and ebullience for readers as when some of the pieces were initially published nearly 50 years ago.

Unfortunately, some of the elements of racism and discrimination discussed by the authors are just as prominent today as they were decades ago. Meacham, an editor at Newsweek, is to be commended for launching and editing such an absorbing and stellar tribute to our struggle.