Summary

In the opening section, “Our Words,” Williams and Long discuss their use of words in their book. As they explain how words can be used to build people up or break them down, they explain that they use words such as Black and white as adjectives because there is so much more to a person than just the color of their skin. They have chosen to include racial slurs in their book because these words are part of history, and it is important that people can feel those words. They also have included words that are no longer frequently used to describe people, such as Colored, in quotes because they are a part of history.

“First Steps” opens at the end of 1962. Bayard Rustin no longer works with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While King and Rustin had spent...