Any serious student of Black politics is aware of the extraordinary demographic, structural, and procedural obstacles that a Black politician or political movement must overcome. The unique challenges confronting Black politics are simply not comparable to the more generic features of status quo politics, from problems with voter registration and targeted campaign strategies to internal squabbles among various organizations, leaders, and social classes. This study of Black politics in the post - civil rights era focuses particularly on the political environment of Sacramento, California, from 1970 to 2000. Having a racial profile that is remarkably similar to the nation's demographics as a whole, Sacramento serves as a useful national proxy on the racial question. Unlike most studies of Black politics over the era, this text pays close attention to minor actors in the political process, yet places them within the context of the larger political world - state, national, and international. We see, for example, the local phenomena of the War on Poverty, the Harold Washington mayoral campaigns, the Rainbow Coalition, the Million Man March, and the great increases in locally appointed and elected Black officials within the context of similar campaigns and movements throughout the nation. It posits a whole new way of understanding how ordinary Black people used the 30 years following the civil rights movement to forge a new political reality for themselves and their country.