The Substance of Things Hoped For
Proctor-pastor emeritus of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, an ex-professor and college administrator and former associate director of the Peace Corps-has lived a life sustained by faith and clear-eyed optimism about the possibilities and problems faced by American blacks. His warm, lucid memoir covers so much ground that it seems skimpy in places. However, his anecdotes resonate: they relate to the backbone he gained from family, church and black society in the segregated South; his role as mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. and many others; and his conviction, after trips to Africa and other foreign lands, that black Americans are inherently American. Though a man of tradition, he calls for the black church to liberalize its attitudes toward women. He has strong policy suggestions to reclaim lost youth: reinvest in teaching; have black churches link up to gain clout; establish a Peace Corps-like National Youth Academy at deactivated military bases to educate youngsters whom schools haven't helped. That would cost much less than prisons, he warns. Literary Guild alternate; author tour.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.