The renowned American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his most iconic speech, “I Have a Dream,” in 1963, envisioning a future where all races could fully partake in the “American dream.”

In his 1951 poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes famously asks: “What happens to a dream deferred?” This question highlights the unfulfilled aspirations of African Americans for political and economic freedom due to prevailing racist attitudes.

Steven Watson's The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920–1930 (1996) delves into the significant African-American cultural movement, with Langston Hughes playing a pivotal role in redefining how black intellectuals and artists viewed themselves.

Edited by Laurel Holliday, Children of the Dream: Our Own Stories of Growing Up Black in America (2000) shares the personal narratives of thirty-eight African Americans, detailing their experiences of growing up black in the face of racial discrimination.

In Race Matters (1995), Cornel West compiles a series of engaging essays that examine the complexities of race in America.