As an African American Studies undergraduate student at University of California, Berkeley, Joy Elan wrote papers that revolved around African American life and culture in the United States. This book is a collection of her favorite and best essay topics where she explored different issues in the African American/Black community. The topics ranged from family, education, legal, gender, and political. Institutional Freedom: A Collection of African American Essays is Joy Elan's voice and these were things that impacted her to be the person she is today: a writer, a teacher, a voice for change. She is presenting this to you to show you how to think outside the box. As she has said before, silence is not always golden and she definitely thinks that knowledge should always be shared.