Boldly contending that culture can and should be a central organizing principle in studies pertaining to human interaction, African American Communication and Identities: Essential Readings is the first anthology to examine a wide range of communication studies specific to African American communicative experiences, including linguistic, rhetorical, and relational styles.

In this compelling anthology, editor Ronald L. Jackson II explores constitutive aspects of African American communication behaviors as they relate to how African Americans define themselves culturally. Readers benefit from a plethora of research on African Americans related to almost every area of communication inquiry, including theory and identity; language, performance, and rhetoric; interpersonal relationships; gendered contexts; organizational and instructional contexts; and mass mediated contexts.

Creating a space for African American-centered research and broadening the scope of the Communication discipline, this volume includes

• • Must-read classic and contemporary studies of African American communication, illuminating the history and development of research and writing in this often overlooked area;

• • Explorations of several conceptual innovations that add to the body of communication literature, such as Afrocentricity, Complicity Theory, Cultural Contracts Theory, and Black Masculine Identity Theory;
    
  • Section-opening introductions situate readings for students and end-of-chapter discussion questions provoke discussion and critical thought;
    
  • Insightful analyses of the relational dimensions of African Americans and provocative conceptions of African American gendered identities.

Endowing the field with an intellectual legacy of issues, challenges, needs, and paradigms, African American Communication and Identities is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in Communication Studies and African American Studies courses. This volume is also an excellent reader for advanced courses in intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication, race relations, and interethnic communication.