The essays in this collection explore black culture from the perspective of an author who went from a childhood in inner-city Detroit (Michigan) to become an ordained minister, university professor, and cultural critic. The book opens with a letter to the author's brother, in jail for murder, and examines their childhoods and the role of the…

Although the common perception is that children of African Caribbean descent do poorly in British schools, evidence has been gathered that indicates that this is by no means always the case. The association between the academic achievement of British African Caribbeans and their religious backgrounds is explored in this study of high-achieving…

Understanding the history of cooperative efforts among blacks and whites for the social and economic advancement of African Americans and the development of harmony and fellowship in various religious communities has the potential to inspire good race relations in contemporary America. The book is organized around major themes that have been…

Because religion has greatly influenced the course of U.S. history and because it continues to have an impact on U.S. life, an examination of its role is a necessary part of social studies. In order to understand U.S. society, citizens must know something about the development of the religious ideas, practices, and institutions found in the United…

This two-volume encyclopedia includes essays on distinct ethnic, ethnoreligious, or Native American groups in the United States, arranged in alphabetical order. It is intended as a comprehensive reference source in the area of multiculturalism in the United States. The groups were selected according to the magnitude of the group based on 1990 U.S.…

The church school teacher has the ability to strengthen or weaken the overall effectiveness of the church school program. In many cases, loss of interest, church school dropout, and the decline of the church school result from poor teaching. A model is proposed that can address the problem of the declining church school through a teaching and…

Racial and ethnic identity must be understood as an important determinant of the creative process and social dynamics, as well as understood as individual psychology. This collection of papers examines identity issues in the following chapters: (1) "Roots and Routes: Black Identity as an Outernational Project" (Paul Gilroy); (2) "Identity as…

By the turn of the century, more than one-third of the U.S. population will be persons of color. Classification by self-identification is becoming more complicated, and the traditional four racial categories do not describe the changing population of the United States adequately. This book was written as a source of basic information about some of…