Beating the Odds

The purpose of my qualitative research is to reveal how four African-
American men overcame inferior education and Jim Crow laws. In the early twentieth
century the social and economic conditions of African American men were appalling,
yet they refused to accept the notion of inferior beings and second-class citizenship.
Phenomenological interviews were conducted. The major conclusions that evolved
from the data were that family and church were significantly important to the
participants. This is a study about four African American men's pedagogy, praxis and
their quest for discovery, self-realization and high expectations. My inquiry is also
about their struggles, dreams, failures and disillusionment.