Ideal for black history courses as well as supplemental to general U.S. history courses, Passageways is the first major new general work on the history of African-Americans to appear in many years.The two volumes reflect current scholarship on the black past and are both thematic and chronological in their approach. The metaphor "Passageways" describes the paths blacks in America have forged through racially inspired minefields. The two volumes focus on the ways in which a people imagined and constructed themselves, the institutions they created, the cultures they forged, and the battles for freedom and equality they waged. Colin A. Palmer is distinguished professor of History at CUNY Graduate School.

He has held several fellowships and published widely in the area of African diaspora.