Prologue. Moving from the margins
On freedom and the will to adorn: the African American essay
Voices of thunder: nineteenth-century black oratory and the development of the African American essay
On art and such: debating aesthetics during the Harlem Renaissance
Stranger at home: James Baldwin on what it means to be an American
The mystery of American identity: Ralph Ellison
On women, rights, and writing: June Jordan and Alice Walker
Epilogue. Essaying in the digital age.