This book combines a literary and sociological analysis of black mother to son relationships. The authors focus on the extraordinary struggles of black mothers in literature and real life who attempt to teach their sons not only to survive, but also to transcend the obstacles that black people encounter in American society. This study breaks new ground by using an innovative Afrocentric methodology to reveal definite connections between African American poetry, fiction, and black family life. In this second edition the authors reaffirm the political nature of art, literature, and social research and reflect on critical insights this study shares with recent writing in Black Studies, Black women’s theorizing, and analyses of the sociocultural production of race and the significance of gender.