From Publishers Weekly

Responding to E. Franklin Frazier's somewhat disdainful Black Bourgeoisie , Harvard sociologist Lawrence-Lightfoot ( Balm in Gilead ) here portrays the complex lives, drives and commitments of six middle-aged "African-Americans of privilege." Each subject, whom she interviewed over a period of several years, reveals something thought-provoking: Charles Ogletree, a criminal defense lawyer and Harvard professor, feels "both burdened and inspired" by the ghosts of his small-town past; Cleveland and Boston businesswoman Cheryle Wills describes learning the spiritual and material values of community at Cleveland's largest black funeral home; documentary filmmaker Orlando Bagwell recalls the abandonment (similar to the "isolation" noted by his subject, Malcolm X) he felt when his family moved to a rural white area. In a brief coda of analysis, the author has avoided some probing questons, such as the relationships of two subjects with white spouses. Also, Lawrence-Lightfoot allows the narratives to meander, following the line of her interview sessions; she might have done more to mold her subjects' stories. 75,000 first printing; author tour.

Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Portraying six African American professionals, Lawrence-Lightfoot shows that even successful African Americans are affected by racism. Her work elegantly complements the statistical approach to African American life while offering valuable biographical information on these unsung individuals.

Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

A decade after her MacArthur Prize Award, six years after publication of her widely praised biography of her child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst mother, Balm in Gilead (1988), Lawrence-Lightfoot broadens her focus, reexamining the territory of E. Franklin Frazier's Black Bourgeoisie (1962) in probing conversations with six successful, middle-aged African American women and men. The book's "storytellers"--who were interviewed by Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociology professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, over several years--are Presbyterian minister and "womanist" philosopher Katie Cannon; defense attorney and Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree; ex-nun and aspiring Episcopal minister Toni Schiesler; Felton "Tony" Earls, an epidemiologist and psychiatrist at the Harvard School of Public Health; cable entrepreneur and political fund-raiser Cheryle Wills; and documentary filmmaker Orlando Bagwell. Positioned at the midpoint of their lives, assessing what they owe to past and future generations, negotiating carefully but courageously the trade-offs and contradictions, challenges and rewards of what DuBois called African Americans' "double consciousness," Lawrence-Lightfoot and the men and women who trusted her to capture their voices and the complex realities of their journeys generously share with every reader their compelling and involving stories. A Book-of-the-Month Club main selection. Mary Carroll --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A refreshing and inspiring look into the lives of six successful African-Americans. Lawrence-Lightfoot (Sociology/Harvard; Balm in Gilead, 1988, etc.) is perturbed by some sociologists' portrayal of the black middle class as ``materialistic bourgeois assimilationists.'' To counter that perception, she richly portrays six African-Americans. In extended conversations with her, they detail their experiences: the often riveting events that have molded their feelings about race, their attempts to negotiate the crossing between black and white society; the lives they have created for themselves, both personally and professionally. Among these exemplary people are: Toni Schiesler, a female candidate for the Episcopal priesthood; Charles Ogletree, a criminal defense lawyer and professor at Harvard Law School; Felton Earls, an epidemiologist and psychiatrist at Harvard's School of Public Health; and Cheryle Wills, entrepreneur and owner of radio and television stations. While all have achieved great success in their fields, their backgrounds differ widely. Schiesler was the illegitimate daughter of a rape victim. Earls, on the other hand, was born into a solidly middle-class family that had deep roots in New Orleans. Yet a few themes do recur. One is the cultural obsession with skin color among middle-class blacks, and a caste system favoring lighter complexions. Another theme is their intense empathy for less fortunate African-Americans. All six claim to understand the rage that surfaced in L.A. in 1992--seeing the riots as symptomatic of racism in American society. ``It wasn't senseless...it was the decades of brutalization,'' says Wills. The book doesn't present a full picture of the black middle class, with its diverse approaches to politics and debates about assimilation--but it doesn't claim to. Lawrence-Lightfoot presents successful people determined to remember where they--individually and as a people--came from, and she brings her formidable storytelling gifts to their lives. (Book- of-the-Month Club main selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

It's hard to classify this title: try a juxtaposition of Afro-American women's lives which reflect the trials and challenges of loss and liberation, contrasting six very different women's experiences with the unifying issues of race and gender. This reads like a novel but packs in fine detail. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Mixing biography and autobiography, casual talk with soul-bearing revelations, the author of Balm in Gilead uses a kind of "human archaeology" to reveal the complex, nuanced lives of six middle-class African-American achievers. Strikingly candid portraits explore the experiences and events that have shaped their identities and influenced the course of their lives.