New York: Dial Press, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - A memoir by one of the most influential, controversial, and complex Black politicians of the first half of the 20th century, one which details his childhood in Harlem, his education at an all-white college, his years spent preaching the gospel, and his rise to political fame, as a flamboyant black congressman, a civil-rights activist who was also notorious for his private life. "As the congressman from Harlem, he denounced racist southern colleagues and introduced the 'Powell Amendment' to deny federal funds to projects or organizations that practiced discrimination. In 1960, he became chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, then the strongest position ever held by a black in the US government - and he became a thorn in the side of ally and foe alike. He was a maverick seldom bound by party, duty, or conventional morality, although in this book, he barely mentions the charges of corruption that led to his exclusion from Congress. Nor does he discuss his opposition to Bayard Rustin, as depicted in the recent film. Illustrated with photographs. Index. x, 260 pp. Dust jacket by Wendell Minor.