"In the years prior to Emancipation, while the Civil War still raged, a few enslaved Black men and women seized freedom for themselves regardless of the law and risk to their own lives. Hate Stings reveals for the first time those untold histories based on true events of Reconstruction-era Black Minnesotans highlighting their reliance in the face of facial terror. Writer and descendant James Curry weaves together fact-based narratives of the Overall, Wallace and Curry families into an unforgettable story of extraordinary circumstances encountered by these real life heroes and heroines, the triumph and tragedy of their lives, and the spirit shown despite the powerful forces and odds opposing them. "-- Back cover.