Customer Reviews

Practical Virtues: Everyday Values and Devotions for African American Families

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This book will strengthen your prayer and meditation time.

Floyd Flake is awesome.

Practical Virtues is a wonderful collection of biblical parables, classic excerpts and quotations from slaves and prominent political, social, and literary giants. It addresses the age old question, "How Are We To Live?" by offering practical "living virtues with soul," i.e., those that reflect core values that can be acted upon in daily life and are centered on God and biblical teachings.

The book centers on twelve basic virtues: Courage, Diligence, Faith, Forbearance, Forgiveness, Honesty, Love, Loyalty, Prudence, Responsibility, Service, Trustworthiness. Each section defines the virtue in layman's terms, synopsizes its importance and relevance in our lives, and provides 5-10 excerpts with constructive tips on how to exercise the virtue following the examples outlined in the passages. The book cites works of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Anita Hill, Nella Larson, Asha Bandele, Gwendolyn Brooks, Colin Powell, Chester Himes, Rosa Parks, Arthur Ashe, Ann Petry, J. California Cooper, and countless others.

I enjoyed and benefited from both the spiritual/moralistic vibe and the historical facets of the book. I learned a lot regarding African American history, social movement, and challenges -- this book encouraged me to research specific topics further. This is an impressive anthology (even though that was not the intent of the authors) that demonstrates that the faith of our ancestors moved mountains, love sustained them, and biblical and yesteryear wisdom and observations are still relevant and applicable in modern times.

Reviewed by Phyllis

APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

Reverends Floyd H. Flake and M. Elaine McCollins Flake have penned a book that
is a must for every family library. In PRACTICAL VIRTUES: EVERYDAY VALUES &
DEVOTIONS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES, the authors/pastors give guidelines
for living virtuously that are wonderfully illustrated with examples from
African-American literature.

Courage, diligence, faith, forbearance, forgiveness, honesty, love, loyalty,
prudence, responsibility, service, and trustworthiness are the qualities

presented. The book is divided into sections which are titled by their
respective virtues. Each section includes a number of literary examples which
is followed by exercises for discussions or journaling on the story. The
authors suggest reading the book as a family devotional and spending a week on
each section. The content of this book is meaty enough to warrant more time
reading and reflecting on the principles that are presented.

I was particularly moved by a number of the slave narratives which are
included in various sections of the book. The strength of our ancestors is so
indicative of virtuous living that reading their words, for me, at times was
overwhelming. In the Courage section, Ellen and William Craft's story of their
escape from slavery is told and it is nothing short of phenomenal. The Crafts
sought freedom by Ellen dressing up as a man and William serving as her
servant as they made there way out of the South on a train. The authors could
have stopped there with their discussion on courage, but they went on to share
so much more.

PRACTICAL VIRTUES is an inspiring collection of all that is notable and
convicting in African American literature. Families who make the commitment
to read it together will undoubtedly grow stronger and closer as a result.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury
of the RAWSISAZ Reviewers