In Speaking Truth to Power, Marable documents the struggle for racial equality both in the United States and abroad. Relating the political climate of the times to the treatment of African-Americans during the 1980s and '90s, Marable explores many of the divisive events that so dramatically affected race relations, including the hate crimes waged against African-Americans in the South, the significance of Harold Washington's mayorship in Chicago, infighting among black leaders in the democratic party, the Rodney King verdict, and other events. From urban blight in America to the oppression of blacks in Africa, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, Marable explains the forces that unite entrenched racism on a global level.

The formation of a new coalition to encourage political participation from all African Americans, which goes beyond factionalism and issues of class, is an important goal of Marable's. It's also his hope that the rebirth of a more aggressive, principled Black activism, which speaks to the new hiphop generation, motivates these young people to get excited and inspired about leadership and see that they have the power to change the way things are.