African Americans in Portsmouth built a strong, insulated community because they were cognizant of the need to look inward. Early 20th-century leaders such as Dr. William Reid, Nancy T. Wheeler, and the Reverend Harvey N. Johnson Sr. were civic models and guiding forces for a community emerging from the ravages of slavery, and enduring the hardships of segregation. Black America: Portsmouth, Virginia captures the world of an ever-changing community and a people who persevered, no matter the odds.