Progress and individualism are highly celebrated in American culture. Many people migrate to urban cities in search of economic prosperity and to achieve the elusive “American Dream.” City life can often come as a shock to people not used to a busy lifestyle; on the contrary it can change a person. Such a change can transform a person into losing the values ​​and beliefs with which they were raised and which consequently attributes to the loss of the bonds they once had with their family. This is not the case for the families portrayed in Carol Stack's ethnography Call to Home. The book describes Southern African American families living in rural towns in North and South Carolina – migrating to urban Northern cities for economic opportunity – known as the Great Migration, and ultimately deciding to return home. This essay explores the reasons that have caused reverse migration, including family ties, the structural and environmental violence experienced, the role of children, and the new philosophies that the diaspora brings with it upon returning home. The Great Migration to the Northern states began subtly in the 1920s, during the Jim Crow era (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 12, 2013). An economic boom in the 1940s during World War II spawned the second Great Migration as Southern families faced structural and environmental violence (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 18, 2013). Poor infrastructure, lack of opportunities and jobs, and incessant poverty have inspired migration to the northern and northwestern parts of the country (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 12, 2013), yet Stack's ethnography focuses primarily on the families and individuals who have migrated to the northern state... middle of paper... the cycle of structural and environmental violence continues. Years after the end of slavery, African American communities continue to be subjugated by whites in structures that do not allow them to thrive. African American families should be allowed to call the South home while having access to all the resources they would otherwise have access to in urban communities, because doing so is their basic civil and human right. However, with the injustices they face, it is wonderful that family ties keep communities stabilized and knowing that they can rely on each other, be they blood relatives or fictitious relatives. Works CitedStack, C. (1996). Call Home: African Americans Reclaim the Rural South. New York, NY: BasicBooks.Toepke, A. & Serrano, A. (producer/director). (1998). The Tongue You Cry [DVD]. Sierra Leone/Spain: California newsreel.