This honest book, with its warm yet

unsparingly candid photos, reveals

the innermost hopes and dreams of

a poor black family living in the

heart of one of the richest counties

in the United States. Rena, the

mother, is a frank, hardworking

woman. She wants her youngest

child and only son to grow up

strong, but, because her life has

been far from easy, she tends to be

too protective. Her husband, Big

John, is a seasonal construction

worker whose main worry is provid-

ing for his family. Although he ar-

gues with his teen-age daughter s

militant young friends over how to

achieve a better life, he has to ad-

mit that passive ways haven t gotten

the black man very far.