This article chronicles a journey to achieve the type of education that focused on the battles to secure access to schooling and a curriculum for full citizenship. The pursuit of educational opportunity has been and continues to be tortuous, with each step toward progress met by a major societal set back. As the fate of individuals and nations is increasingly tied up in their ability to learn, the quest for access to an equitable, empowering education for African Americans has become a critical issue for the American nation as a whole. (Contains 1 table.)