"I've known rivers...I've known rivers ancient as the world." These are the opening lines of this magnificent, powerful poem. E.B.Lewis chose to illustrate the book with pictures of worn hands and soulful waters. Water has carried African Americans from a hut near the Congo to the pyramids along the NIle and on to the MIssissippi. This is an emotional story that conveys the dignity of the people and the connection they've had to the greater powers of the world-nature and beyond.