This book analyzes key cultural strengths of African American families, arguing that they provide a solid foundation upon which to develop the kind of public policies and self-help initiatives that will genuinely promote the interests of African Americans and diverse peoples nationwide. Nine chapters include (1) "Solutions Framework" (historical, ecological, and cultural perspectives and identifying problems and solutions); (2) "The African Heritage" (e.g., conjugality versus consanguinity, male and female roles, and the importance of children); (3) "Class Trends and Concept Misuse" (e.g., reifying class abstractions, shifting class criteria, and confusing class and race); (4) "Strong Achievement Orientation" (e.g., parent and youth educational orientation, peer approval of achievement, self-esteem, and resiliency programs); (5) "Strong Work Orientation" (work ethic, discouraged workers, and resiliency programs); (6) "Flexible Family Roles" (e.g., egalitarian family roles, boys reared by unmarried mothers, contact with fathers, drug abuse, and resiliency programs); (7) "Strong Kinship Bonds" (e.g., services to unwed mothers, day care services, foster care, and reducing child abuse); (8) "Strong Religious Orientation" (e.g., religious commitment, contemporary roles of black churches, and increasing class polarity); and (9) "Summary and Implications" (public policy implications). (Contains approximately 407 references.) (SM)