Customer Reviews

All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A classic ethnography of the social networks and kin structures of low-income Black Americans in a the early 1970's. This book helped me a great deal when I conducted an ethnographic study in an urban, low-income US city in 2009. Some of the findings in the book might be anachronistic or place specific, but she gives the reader a great deal of insight into the logic of these structures. Rather than seeing household and kin ties as deviant, the way many Americans do, she shows that they make perfect sense given the history and political-economic conditions of the people in her study.

I read this book 25-years ago for a Marriage and Family class. I have not re-read it since. The fact that I still remember the book and the essence of its content speaks to how pertinent it is to understanding the culture and how, based on more recent news, it has not really changed since the book was written. I have continually thought about this work on and off over the years and still have not come up with a plausible idea on how to improve the culture, especially since those it do not see the need.

By looking at the cover.. you'd think this was the most boring book available at the bookstore. I dreaded reading this when it was assigned to my Anthropology course.. however when I finally got around to reading it is insightful and interesting. It brought up facts that I've seen around me but failed to recognize as part of a culture.

One question I do pose though, when the family which inherits a large sum of money decides to share it among the poor community. Wouldn't the community be better off if that one family decided to move out of poverty, enabling the poor community to become smaller and thus have more items being able to rotate within the community? Eventually the community can become richer because of this instead of dragging those around them down.

Interesting book..

By looking at the cover.. you'd think this was the most boring book available at the bookstore. I dreaded reading this when it was assigned to my Anthropology course.. however when I finally got around to reading it is insightful and interesting. It brought up facts that I've seen around me but failed to recognize as part of a culture.

One question I do pose though, when the family which inherits a large sum of money decides to share it among the poor community. Wouldn't the community be better off if that one family decided to move out of poverty, enabling the poor community to become smaller and thus have more items being able to rotate within the community? Eventually the community can become richer because of this instead of dragging those around them down.

Interesting book..

I was made to read this book for my anthro class. It was interesting to read about teh family situations, I read all of this book. This book contains a lot of diagrams and charts, so there is even less text to read. A little outdates perhaps though!