The Great Depression hit Americans hard, but none harder than African Americans and the working poor. This brief, engaging book covers the range of African Americans' experiences during the 1930s. Cheryl Lynn Greenberg explores employment issues, the New Deal's effect on African Americans, family and community changes, and how the coming of war affected the population. The book straddles the particular—with examinations of specific communities and experiences—and the general—with explorations of the broader effects of racism, discrimination, family, class, and political organizing.