On The Edge: A History Of Poor Black Children And Their American Dreams

by Carl H. Nightingale

Filled with fascinating insights into the collective emotional life of inner-city kids, this book is also a highly original history of the erosion of urban community life since World War II.

254 pages, Hardcover

First published November 16, 1993

Reviews

[Ms. Schneeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be a requirement for teachers working with inner-city/poor black children. It is quite depressing at times but also very insightful and really gave me a lot of compassion for the people in the community where I work. For those who think working with children in the worst neighborhoods of this country is a lost cause, or for those who think that young black boys just don't care, I would summon the closing words from Mr. Nightingale: "Youthful inner-city hope is a precious commodity often found in places we would least expect. We will need to look carefully to find it, and once we find it we will need to care for it tenderly. But to keep tragic historical tides from washing over the lives of still more generations of poor African-American children, we will need to find a way to remind the rest of the country of the endless possibilities of the fragile hopes that can still be found in the inner city-- and dedicate our national energy to their nurture" (196). Onwards...