African American identity

Jas M. Sullivan and Ashraf M. Esmail's African American Identity: Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience, with a foreword by William E. Cross, Jr., is a collection that employs multiple perspectives across the social sciences to address the complex issues of race and identity. The contributors to this book tackle questions about what African American racial identity means, how we may go about quantifying it, what the factors are in shaping identity development, and what effects racial identity has on psychological, political, educational, and health-related behavior. African American Identity aims to continue the conversation, rather than provide a beginning or an end. It is an in-depth study that uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to explore the relationship between racial identity and psychological well-being, effects on parents and children, physical health, and related educational behavior. From these vantage points, Sullivan and Esmail provide a unique opportunity to further our understanding, extend our knowledge, and continue the debate.