The title of this book, Will of Fire, came from my young physical therapist. We were talking about the events in Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement. I assured him that there was much that preceded this most recent movement. Many Blacks spoke out without any assurance of protection, particularly when they addressed unpopular subjects like homosexuality, interracial relations, prostitution, promiscuity, and color prejudice.

These were the topics that a small group of young writers chose to address. "Fire!!" was the title of the literary magazine that this group established. The founding editors are among my favorites: Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Aaron Douglas (whose painting we have used as our cover); John Davis, Richard Bruce Nugent, Gwendolyn Bennet, Lewis Grandson Alexander, and Countee Cullen.