Product Description

Robert M. Franklin provides first-person advice and insight as he identifies the crises resident within three anchor institutions that have played key roles in the black struggle for freedom. Black families face a "crisis of commitment" evident in the rising rates of father absence, births to unmarried parents, divorce, and domestic abuse or relationship violence.

Black churches face a "mission crisis" as they struggle to serve their upwardly mobile and/or established middle class "paying customers" alongside the poorest of the poor.

Historically black colleges and universities face a crisis of "relevance and purpose" as they now compete for the best students and faculty with the broad marketplace of colleges. With clarity and passion, Franklin calls for practical and comprehensive action for change from within the African American community and from all Americans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63390 in eBooks
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Released on: 2007-02-01
• Format: Kindle Book
• Number of items: 1

Review
"...bracing and bold call for spiritual and social healing in the black community." -- Michael Eric Dyson, author of Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?

"Franklin is one of the most prophetic leaders and visionary thinkers of his generation. This book warrants our close attention." -- Cornel West, Princeton University

"It should be required reading for everyone concerned about the future of Black children, the Black community, and America." -- Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund

About the Author
Robert M. Franklin is Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University. He has also served at the University of Chicago, Harvard Divinity School, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, and the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, as well as at the Ford Foundation. His prior books from Fortress Press include Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African-American Thought (1990, 0-8006-2392-4) and Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis (1997, 0-8006-3096-3). A frequent commentator on public radio's "All Things Considered" he lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Customer Reviews

Timely and in excellent condition
I received the book in a timely manner and in excellent condition as a new book.

Crisis in the Village
This is an excellent book and all ministers should read it and learn from it! We have problems in our communities. Here's some insight. We can not keep our head in the sand! We must restore our communities. It is up to us! The Church!

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land
To sing the songs of Zion for Babylonian amusement was offensive to the Jews so they hung their harps and so they did not sing the songs of Zion and so they began to forget Jerusalment. The issue facing the Jews was how to resist assimilation, how to sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land. Dr. Franklin's book is a courageous statement for community renewal for the African American community that also finds itself living in a strange land, these United States. The task before Christians is the same as it was for Jewish who have for millenias faced open hostility of the world. African Americans have faced hostility ever since a slave ship named Jesus brought them to the New World. The task is how to sing the Lord's song in this New World without forgetting the rich heritage of biblical faith that invites young minds into the world of miracle, a world of hope of deliverance. Dr. Franklin's book is a fresh challenge for Christians to renew the covenant of community that
started at the foot of Sinai for a liberated people.