For a century, Harlem has been celebrated as the capital of black America, a thriving center for cultural achievements and political action. At a crucial moment in Harlem's history - gentrification - Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts unravels the myth and meaning of Harlem's legacy. Rhodes-Pitts explores the epic harlem of storytelling and the personal Harlem that begins at her front door, and introduces us to a variety of past and present characters. At the heart of their and their own stories is the hope that has been borne for generations: the hope that Harlem is the ground from which blacks can fully enter American democracy.