An eyewitness to the unfolding of Dr. King's work in Chicago and the beginning of my national leadership, Rev. Martin Deppe has written an important addition to the canon of civil rights movement literature: the history of Operation Breadbasket. It was fifty years ago that Dr. King assigned me to head Breadbasket, the economic arm of the still ongoing crusade for racial and social justice in America. Rev. Deppe was there from the beginning as a member of the steering committee. Because of the urgency of today's issues of want and war I had almost forgotten our beginnings. Rev. Deppe, however, has reminded me and anyone else who has the pleasure of reading this wonderful book that a tree cannot grow without roots.