Professor Banks has tackled one of the most important issues facing the black community—the decline of the nuclear family. Richly illustrated and fully referenced this book is a must read for anyone who wants to grasp more fully the significance of changes in black family structure. Those reading this book should emerge with a much deeper understanding of the complexities of African-American family life.

—Donna L. Franklin, author of Ensuring Inequality: The Structural Transformation of the African-American Family (1997)