Judy Juanita uses four different genres to scrutinize the seminal Black Arts Movement. Her novel, Virgin Soul, is about a young black woman coming of age in the 1960s who joins the Black Panther Party. Excerpted here from Virgin Soul is "The Black House" which follows a young woman discovering black culture in the 1960s. In the play/film script, "Life is a Carousel," a black academic, Layla, on her way to a Black studies conference, meets the forgotten founder of Black Studies, Diahlo Green. They spar with airport reservation agents about the fare. Diahlo and Layla meet at the convention venue where blatant disregard for him continues by a whole new generation of academics. At issue is the relevancy of the Academy, Black Studies and the struggle. At each step of the way, the new, including LGBTQ professors, crushes the old.

In the essay selection, "Five Comrades in The Black Panther Party, 1967-1970," Juanita, a former Panther, looks back at her youthful participation in the most influential black revolutionary organization of the late 1960s.The poetry selection, "(not) forgotten man," is a sonnet about a seminal figure from the 1960s,.