Horace Patterson’s story follows his metamorphosis from baseball-playing youth to politically active and socially aware black minister. In this book of hope for the future, Patterson chronicles his escape from the cycle of poverty and violence through the power of God. Exploring the social, political, and theological underpinnings to an activist minister’s life, Patterson’s account describes five decades as a minority activist involved in the politics of fairness and racial justice in both the small-town arena and the national stage. Documenting the South’s passage from the conflict-ridden fifties and sixties to the still-turbulent present, Patterson tells how he overcame years of bribery, death threats, and other forms of physical and mental intimidation. Undaunted, Patterson continues to strive for freedom and equality.