In this probing analysis of the history and future of the African American experience, Marcia Y. Riggs explains how social stratification has not only damaged cooperation among Blacks, but has also nurtured a dysfunctional class competition - competition that continues to dim hopes of justice, solidarity, and liberation in the black community. Riggs proposes the nineteenth-century black women's club movement as a model for approaching the contemporary crisis in black America. These reformers, Riggs demonstrates, recognized that the ongoing problems of racism, sexism, and classism discouraged the development of intragroup responsibility. By rejecting oppressive images and roles, the club movement challenged African Americans to strive for communal liberation and social betterment. Awake, Arise, and Act skillfully weaves together sociology, theology, and history to create a brilliant tapestry of hope and promise for African Americans in the twenty-first century.