Portraits of Purpose: A Tribute to Leadership

by Don West, Kenneth J. Cooper

Portraits of Purpose is a visual chronicle of 127 Boston-based African American leaders and their allies who have continued the pursuit of freedom and justice in the post-civil rights era. Renowned Boston photographer and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kenneth J. Cooper team up to capture the images and tell the stories of these individuals of conscience, while best-selling author Charles Ogletree Jr. writes the foreword. In racially turbulent times, these stories provide succor and inspiration for all people who are weary of oppositional politics and yearning to come together across differences of race, ethnicity, and class to create a better city, nation, and world.

231 pages, Hardcover

First published October 29, 2014

Reviews

[Jojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: my father is featured in this book. This is a beautiful look at the varied people who have fought, and continue to fight, for civil rights in Boston and beyond. Many people I knew about, but I was able to learn about so many more people in the area working in a myriad of programs.