Portraits of PurposeBoston-based photojournalist Don West and longtime journalist Kenneth J. Cooper, a Dorchester resident, have co-authored a new book, “Portraits of Purpose: A Tribute to Leadership, “ that is a collection of photographs and profiles on 127 African-American leaders and their supporters who have worked toward racial and economic equality in the Boston area in recent decades.

The book features local legends such as former state representative and mayoral candidatere Mel King and busing-era education activist Ruth Batson as well as global figures like President Barack Obama and former South African President Nelson Mandela, with an emphasis on their visits or ties to Boston.

The concept for the book originated from a photography exhibit that West put together for the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill in 1997, utilizing work from his previous ten years as a news photographer. The initial collection has 25 pieces. Following its warm reception, the Museum asked West to return the following year. He did, with another 25 faces added to the mix. In addition to the high-profile leaders that he had covered, he also sought to shine light on “unsung heroes,” bringing “a history forward that you wouldn’t find in the usual news media.”

The book’s intent, West says, is to highlight those who have worked for “social justice,” which he describes as “an umbrella term” that encompasses multiple areas in which activists seek greater social equality.

“What happened in Ferguson and what happened in New York recently, relative to those grand juries – we can see that we need judicial reform. So that’s a justice piece,” West explains. “There’s [a need for] justice in the health care area. There’s [a need for] justice in many different areas of our society.”

The book is “about bringing forward dialogue and interest in these areas that we need to talk about and we need to change,” said West.

Don WestEastern Bank helped underwrite the book’s publication. West expanded the collection and sought out Cooper, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, to write 500-word profiles for each photograph. Cooper said that the process of writing the profiles highlighted for him the importance of the basic “humanism” that underlies social activism.

“We all have value as a humans [and] all of us should respect and honor [that],” he said. The primary issue at the heart of the recent headlines on race and policing that have rocked the nation is one of human tragedy – the loss of “an eighteen year-old boy in Ferguson, a twelve-year-old boy in Cleveland,” referring to the high-profile shootings of teenagers Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, respectively.

The other lesson, Cooper says, is the importance of collaboration and connections between individuals. He holds up the example of the writer James Baldwin, who is profiled in the book, as greatly influencing the lives of two Boston-area leaders: Haverhill-based Congregational minister Horace Seldon, who cites Baldwin as the inspiration for his fifty years of anti-racism work; and former Cambridge Mayor Ken Reeves, who sought perspective in Baldwin’s words following the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013.

The book provides an exploration of the ways in which Boston has taken great strides forward – and other areas in which there is still room for improvement. Cooper points to former mayors Ray Flynn and Thomas Menino as examples of significant change.

They “helped guide the city away from hostility” to a new era of “racial friendship,” Cooper says. “[Menino] made getting along the normal course of things – anything else was ‘nonsense.’ He used that word a lot.”

What hasn’t changed, Cooper contended, is that “political power is not evenly distributed” and “structural poverty [and] income inequality” that falls largely along racial lines remains entrenched. The book includes a profile on the four Boston City Councillors of color and highlights the fact that of the nine district seats, only two members are people of color.

Despite his collection’s growth over the years, West says that he often fields questions from people about why someone is not included.

“You can’t include everybody,” he says with a laugh, adding that there are a “vast number” of qualified people to choose from. He does plan, however, to expand the collection moving forward. He also explains choices that some might find controversial, such as former City Councilor Chuck Turner and former Massachusetts state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who each served time in federal prison following an FBI investigation of public corruption.

“I believe in redemption,” West says. “I think the contribution [to the community] is greater than the mistake – and that the contribution can continue.”

Ken CooperWest’s vision expands beyond the pages of his book. He has held various community events and forums in recent months on the topic of social change, utilizing the book as a platform for conversation. He is planning on more events to come.

Cooper adds that the book will hopefully whet readers’ appetite, encouraging them to seek out more information about the people who are covered. At 55,000 words, the book “offers up a lot of history” for a photography book, he says. He hopes that the way it is arranged in “bite sizes” of information will fit with the way that readers consume information in today’s digital world and will “stoke people’s curiosity” to delve deeper into the lives of some of Boston’s greatest and latest social leaders.