Folksinger the was commissioned to write and record this album of songs about prominent African Americans as a means of educating young people. ( shares credit on the album cover with banjo player and bass player . The tracks also reveal other uncredited performers including a second vocalist on and a trumpeter on ) A bass-baritone with a heavy Southern accent, sings his biographical lyrics over simple folk and blues tunes, celebrating the lives of such well-known figures as , the , Jr., and his namesake, . Lesser known is , who participated in the design of Washington, D.C., and somewhat more controversial are of which himself was a member, described in the liner notes as "a small group of local black men" in Jonesboro, LA, "who secured licensed guns to defend themselves and their families" from white racists "even before the better known Black Panthers" in 1965. Although they are also described as a "non-violent, self-defense group," that's not quite the same approach as , nor as 's, in 's telling. "I stabbed that overseer," he sings in the voice of the former slave who became a leader of the Underground Railroad, "I took his lowdown dirty life." Other black leaders are not celebrated for their violent activities, but does acknowledge that aspect of the struggle for Civil Rights in his musical history lessons. ~ William Ruhlmann