The paintings of Jacob Lawrence tell stories. Stories of enslavement and freedom, of human migration and renaissance, of struggle and of triumph. A collection of these paintings provides the backdrop for this exceptional biography which tells the story of one of our finest living painters--from his family's experience in the great migration North, to his growing up in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, to his rise as one of the most renowned painters of African American life. 25 full-color reproductions.