One woman born in slavery eventually becomes a fore-most African-American educator, scholar and visionary who fights for the rights of her students’ access to higher education. This woman is Dr. Anna Julia Cooper, both beloved teacher and principal at the famed M Street High School in Washington, DC, and “Sis Anna,” who lovingly takes in her five nieces and nephews after their mother’s death. SIS ANNA gives us a glimpse of Cooper’s life as she welcomes the “little colony” from Raleigh, NC to their new home in Washington. Cooper also challenges the Washington school board’s requirements for black students to complete a vocational curriculum while fending off a barrage of fabricated scandals intended to ruin her stellar reputation.