Overview

In this masterful work of family-focused sociology, Lois Benjamin considers the lives of Pennie and Roscoe James and their children, revealing how a large, close-knit African American family with humble origins in a small town of North Carolina is shaped by the contours of its religious and ethical value system. Despite the challenges of daily experiences, the James elders transmitted values to their children that provided them with the resources to thrive and the resilience to meet adversity. The James children recount their personal, unique perspectives on how faith, familial solidarity, and savvy entrepreneurship led to their continued generational success. Benjamin uses a blend of ethnographic and qualitative methods to place the James's experiences in broader historical context. In doing so, she shows that the family's values of compassion, empathy, and communitarian and enterprising spirit offer hope in this polarized society.

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9781469678672

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""An in-depth and nuanced analysis. . . . Academics and non-academics can benefit from this introduction to the James family to understand their avenues to success as African-Americans who became highly successful despite structural barriers related to socioeconomic status, race, and gender.""--Ethnic and Racial Studies

Author Information

Lois Benjamin is professor emerita of sociology at Hampton University and author of several books, including The Black Elite: Still Facing the Color Line in the Twenty-First Century.

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