12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright is a book of photos and text that poetically tells the story of African Americans from the time they were taken from Africa to when things started to deteriorate. improve for them in a 149-page reflection. Through series of interchangeable texts and photographs, Richard Wright encompasses the voices of 12 million African-Americans and recounts their suffering, their fears, the phases they went through and their hopes. In this book, most of the photos used came from the FSA: Farm Security Administration and a few others did not. They were selected to complement and show the points of the text. African Americans in photos were depicted with dignity. In their eyes, even if they are clearly victims, there are strengths and hopes for the future. The photos indicated that they could and did create their own culture, both in the past and present. From the same photos and texts, one could infer that they did things to improve their lives despite the many obstacles that were against them. The photographs showed their lives, their sufferings and their journey to a better life, their happy moments and the places that were important to them. Despite the importance of photographs, they were not as effective as text in showing the lives of African Americans and how events there affected them, specifically their complex feelings. Richard Wright's 12 Million Black Voices represents the voices of African Americans from the perspective of their long journey from Africa to America, and from there through their search for equality, the scars and imprints of their origin , of their children born. during these struggles, their journeys, their losses and their plight...... middle of paper ......ey for African Americans. 12 million black voices couldn't have described it better. Their unhappiness, shown on their faces in the photo, their weariness, their fear, their hopes and the strong moments evoked in the text helped to give us a glimpse of African-American life at the time. Today our lives are better. The lives of African Americans are better. We have more opportunities and more equality. What we don't have, we fight for. Yet today we still see traces of the past suffering of our peoples. We still see the traces of the racism they suffered repeated in the lives of our loved ones. And so the struggle continues, but over time it gets better. And this is the new hope. That one day racism will not exist and no one else will suffer like them. Works Cited Wright, Richard and Edwin Rosskam. 12 million black voices. New York: Thunder's Mouth, 1988. Print.