This volume provides a nuanced understanding of the ways in which contemporary contexts of global economies, changes in public policies, tracking in education, health disparities, parenting practices and changes in family structure shape the present and future lived experiences of African-American families. Contemporary African American Families, written in a style that would be accessible to undergraduates, provides an important supplement to the many texts and readers on African American families that focus primarily on within-family dynamics. By taking a look at various structural factors-education, incarceration, housing, and other public policies, this collection of articles delivers a structural framework and an essential social context within which to study today's Black families. Dr. Roberta L. Coles, Professor of Sociology, Dept. of Social & Cultural Sciences, Marquette University, USA Contemporary African American Families is a truly comprehensive and compelling attempt to place "the Black family" in an analytically and politically robust social and conceptual context. It asks questions about what everything from mass incarceration and housing discrimination to Diasporic differences and health disparities mean for the everyday lives and macrostructural possibilities of African American family members-fathers, mothers, grandparents, and children. This book takes a traditional social scientific subject and drags it undeniably into the present. Clearly written, it will work well in classrooms and for more casual readers simply interested in learning more about the topic. John L. Jackson, Jr., author of Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity and Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. ????