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“Barefootin’ is a way of life for me， an approach to living—my philosophy of life， you may say. To me barefootin’ means facing life as it comes， feeling your way along， figuring out things as you go， finding out who you are—searching， stumbling， dancing， learning. Barefootin’ means taking risks， being creative， getting the most out of life， giving yourself to the journey to the world around you. Barefootin’ is about stepping out and moving forward; following a new path even you don’t know where it will lead you; tearing down roadblocks， cutting new roads， and never forgetting where you started.”

These life lessons from the road to freedom were summed up by black American Unita Blackwell in her memoir Barefootin’， with editor JoAnne Prichard Morris， newly published by Crown Publishers， New York. Born in 1933 in Mississippi， Unita experienced a childhood as hard as it gets. She grew up in a sharecropping family riding on her mother’s cotton sack before she was old enough to pick cotton herself. Since having to leave school at age twelve， she was trapped in menial jobs and a bright future seemed beyond her reach. But Unita was forever changed in the summer of 1964 when civil rights workers came to her town of Mayersville， Mississippi. Electrified by the movement， Unita transformed her life from one of despair to one of hope. In Barefootin’ she details her inspirational rise from poverty to power， from silence to outspokenness， from oppression to freedom.

From her rebirth as a freedom fighter and social activist to her tenure as mayor of her home town， to her work as an international peacemaker and presidential advisor， the reader encounters all the unlikely turns of Unita’s remarkable life. The lessons she shares affirm and motivate us all， whether it’s to remember that ordinary people can do extraordinary things， that world-changing movements are the result of many small steps， or that freedom means taking responsibility for our own lives and helping to make the world a better place for all. In a word， without doubt， Barefootin’ is not only a stirring memoir of an exceptional woman but also a guide to living a full and meaningful life from someone who knows how. As Marian Wright Edelman， president of Children’s Defense Fund， comments: “Barefootin’ is a vibrant， inspirational memoir from a woman of extraordinary courage， commitment and creativity. This book is required reading for all those who want to make change from the grassroots up.”

Unita Blackwell is now a fellow of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In the 1960s she served as a project director for the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and was a member of the Freedom Democratic Party that crashed the 1964 Democratic convention. In 1976， she was elected mayor of Mayersville， Mississippi， becoming the first woman mayor in the state; she served for twenty years and still resides there. During Jimmy Carter’s term， she was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Women. At the age of fifty， she received a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts. In 1992，the MacArthur Foundation named her a fellow and recipient of its “genius” grant. Unita holds four honorary doctorates and has received numerous awards for her contributions to human rights.

Another major event in her life was her introduction to China which opened her eyes to the outside world. One January morning in 1973， a quite unexpected telephone call came from movie star Shirley MacLaine， whom she met eight years ago， saying: “We’re going to China.” “Wait a minute， what ‘we’?” Unita was astonished. She was invited to join the first US women delegation to visit China at the invitation from Chinese foreign minister， soon after President Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972 after 23 years’ cut off between the two countries. “Everybody was in a state of shock，” as recalled Unita， “I was going to a Communist country to interpret communism， and people in the state had been calling me a Communist for years. They had called me a Communist when I registered to vote. They called me a Communist when I tried to get our little children a better education. They called me a Communist when I wanted to help people get enough to eat and find houses to live in and when I said we wanted help from programs that were funded by our government. I thought， well， I sure do want to find out what a Communist looks like.” When coming back from the trip it did take her a long while to put all pieces together to make sense of what she had seen and heard in China. She found out that it wasn’t the politics but the people that affected her. She saw that a person living in China loves， laughs， cries and needs friends and values family， the same way people do in America. “My first trip to China opened my eyes to the rest of the world—to the need for friendship and understanding with people who live differently from us.” Unita concluded. Since then， she has made sixteen trips to China and also traveled to India and many other countries in Africa， Europe and Latin America. She could never have imagined what have influenced her life since she has been “barefootin’” out of the boundaries of her own country.

In China， she and her group chatted with Soong Ching Ling， then Vice President of the People’s Republic and a great woman in the world. She met China’s President Li Xiannian and all sorts of grass root folks as well. While visiting Tibet on the roof of the world， she was amazed by the warmth of the vibrant Tibetan people cheering her as a “Black Buddha”. Becoming an instant expert on China after her return， she received a flood of invitations to speak about China from East Coast to West Coast. Her China talks around the country marked the beginning of a new career as a public speaker for promoting the normalization of US-China relations and working for world peace. In the year of 1979 when her country formally established diplomatic relations with China， she was elected President of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association， a nationwide popular organization that has played an important role in promoting friendship between the two peoples before and after the normalization of relations between the two countries. In fact， China has become Unita’s second home.

As a correspondent of China’s leading newspaper People’s Daily stationed in Washington DC， I had the fortune to visit Unita Blackwell at her home town Mayersville in 1980. I probably was the first Chinese who ever came to this small town on the Mississippi delta. Before my arrival the local newspaper already announced with curiosity: “A Red China journalist is coming!” After the three-day visit， I was impressed by the warmth and hospitality extended to me by the people there. Even the speaker of the House of Representatives for the State of Mississippi， C.B. “Buddie” Newman drove from Jackson to present to me a silver cup with my name engraved as a token of friendship between the Mississippi people and the Chinese people. However， at the reception for me held in the town hall， most of the 50 participants， predominantly black farmers， were looking steadily at me as if looking at a “monster” from Red China. When on my turn to speak， I told the audience that Mississippi though far away from China but quite popular there. Our kids begin reading Mark Twain from their textbooks. At our concerts， one often hears singing Old Man River. Black American singer Paul Robeson who sang Chinese most popular song “Qi Lai!” all over the world was a hero in China! After all these words， I found the atmosphere in the hall totally changed. Every face was smiling. Most came to shake my hand and ask all sorts of questions. The most asked question was: “Can we sell cotton to China?” At the end， I was treated with a banquet of their delicious farm-fresh catfishes.

During the visit， Unita and I shared a common thought that friendship comes from understanding and only these two put together will bring us true peace. Rich experiences summarized in Unita Blackwell’s memoir Barefootin’ are vivid examples.