Minneapolis (January 6, 2007) – Fifty years after the Civil Rights Movement, far too many African American communities, and especially children in those communities, are losing ground.

In his latest book, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities, Robert M. Franklin provides first-person advice and insight as he identifies the crises resident within three anchor institutions that have played a key role in the black struggle for freedom.

Crisis in the Village addresses the apparent decline and possible renewal of African American families, churches, and schools.

• Black families face a “crisis of commitment” evident in the rising rates of father absence, births to unmarried parents, divorce, and domestic abuse or relationship violence.
• Black churches face a “mission crisis” as they struggle to serve their upwardly mobile and/or established middle class “paying customers” alongside the poorest of the poor.
• Historically black colleges and universities face a crisis of “moral purpose” as they work to recover their role of preparing community leaders while also competing for the best students and faculty in the broad marketplace of colleges.

With clarity and passion, Franklin calls for practical and comprehensive action for change from within the African American community and from all Americans. He concludes with innovative recommendations for restoring hope, recommendations that are strategic, developmental, and rooted in a theology of reconciliation.

Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities
By Robert M. Franklin
Item Number: 978-0-8006-3887-0
Price: $15.00 / CAN $18.00 / UK £8.99
5.5" x 8.5", paperback, 208 pages

For more information about this book visit Crisis in the Village