Preface: Great expectations / Maya Angelou

Foreword: Reflections on family / Pearl Cleage

Introduction: Making up the truth / Rosemarie Robotham

First light. Rachel / Tina McElroy Ansa ; The circling hand / Jamaica Kincaid ; The driving lesson / Gerald Early ; Holy Cross Hospital / Toi Derricotte ; Bright Thursdays / Olive Senior ; The myth of music / Rachel M. Harper

Myth making. Ocean / Shay Youngblood ; The book of the dead / Edwidge Danticat ; Show business / Martha Southgate ; A son in shadow / Fred D'Aguiar ; On earth / Jacqueline Woodson ; Three sonnets for Mister Kent / Kendel Hippolyte

The shifting self. The drill / Breena Clarke ; Dear Aunt Nanadine / Alexis De Veaux ; Who shot Johnny? / Debra Dickerson ; Going home / Janus Adams ; My daughter, once removed / William Jelani Cobb ; The feather / April Reynolds

A taste of Eden. Sleeper's wake / Paule Marshall ; Aunt Delia / Valerie Wilson Wesley ; Uncle Raymond / Nelson Eubanks ; Brothers and sisters around the world / Andrea Lee ; China / Charles Johnson ; Will & testament / Malaika Adero

Mending the world. Momma / Paulette Childress White ; Daddy / James McBride ; Counting breaths / Rosemarie Robotham ; The two of us / Alice Walker ; The good daughter / Rebecca Walker ; The box.

/ Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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