Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

To escape the Jim Crow South, thousands of African Americans left for the cities of the north and west.  It was a migration from one world to another and changed both the life style of the South and the look of cities in the North.  Wilkerson follows the life of three of these individuals: Ida Mae left the cotton fields of Mississippi in the 1930's for Chicago, George left the orange groves of Florida in the 40's to escape possible death for his role as a labor organizer, and Robert, a trained physician and a member of the black elite of Louisiana and Atlanta, still dreamed of real freedom beyond Jim Crow in L.A. in the 50's.  Their stories are interspersed with a more general history of the times and events.  It is powerful, passionate, troubling writing and definitely worth reading all 700+ pages.