Keeping the Faith

An inspiring collection of personal narratives about love, loss, and faith by African Americans from all walks of life, edited and introduced by the popular author, NPR talk-show host, and PrimeTime contributing correspondent Tavis Smiley.In Keeping the Faith, Tavis Smiley, commentator, advocate, and the author of several acclaimed books, brings together a collection of almost one hundred original accounts drawn from the lives of ordinary African Americans.Written by African Americans from all walks of life, with a sprinkling of more famous individuals (Cornel West, Iyanla Vanzant, Danny Glover, and eight stories from Tavis himself), the stories, reminiscences, and testimonies in Keeping the Faith share lessons learned about family, heritage, and the celebration of black culture, illuminating moments that touched the contributors' lives in special ways. Organized into specific themes, the book explores such vital topics as black love, overcoming challenges, grief and loss, healing and hope. Smiley provides a heartfelt story of his own to each chapter, revealing insights from his own life.A stirring celebration of the abiding and profound inner strength, passion, and spirituality that nurture and sustain so much of the African American community, Keeping the Faith is a book of affirmation and inspiration for all.From the Hardcover edition.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Nonfiction, Spiritual. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.