Author Cohen begins her narrative with a bitter, lengthy divorce. Through this, she discovered and exercised her legal rights while seeing that the American ethos of "we the people" did not generally apply to a poor female of African descent. Being a resolute individual, she realized the need for a new "American experiment" and founded the Link-Up 2 Lift-Up to connect people with critical ideas and services. One linkage involved her meeting with a man who was reaching out to senior citizens in the mainly Africentric neighborhood where she worked. Together they began setting up lively gatherings to apprise seniors of their rights. In support of Barack Obama's bid for the presidency, Cohen placed voter registration assistance in a local bar and grill, to the gratitude of many patrons. Some of them were unaware of their right to vote and were walked through the process by Cohen and her team.

Calling on her fellow African citizens, activist and educator Cohen expertly presents her case for a unified, "woke" perspective. She is an adept, articulate wordsmith who offers emotive personal experiences that have gradually led her to this significant new initiative, as well as practical planning models for the kind of team efforts she espouses. She calls her viewpoint "emic"—coming from within the group being described. Cohen effectively contrasts those Africans in the US who have chosen, in one way or another, to cooperate with or try to ignore the country's systemic racism with the smaller group she calls Exceptional Citizens, who are self-actualizing and rebellious while remaining humble yet strong. With Cohen's guiding vision, Link-Up 2 Lift-Up continues to expand its horizons, aiming to energize and further the cause of these Exceptional Citizens by combatting ingrained American racism—an unacceptable phenomenon that should concern all citizens at all levels.

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