Black families and fostering of leadership

Abstract

Dominant depictions of Black families in US scholarship and political discourse have been negative; tropes of defunct, hyper-masculinized men and welfare queens along with a general ‘tangle of pathology’ indictment are common. This article supports other scholarship, which challenges these depictions and acknowledges common positive traits associated with Black families. Through an examination of interviews with 39 famous Black leaders from the US Civil Rights Era coupled with an extant review of sociological Black family literature, this article highlights three positive, supportive traits common to Black families: (1) extended and fictive kin; (2) racial socialization; and (3) education. These findings challenge the assertion of the Black family as dysfunctional by highlighting multiple Black family voices. The analysis relies upon Black families’ articulations of their cultural strengths and successes, which contrasts with the prevailing review of Black families that uses structural approaches and a rigid, White family model.