Until now no scholar has examined the salutary expression among African Americans. Riggins Earl, Jr. does an excellent job of educating and informing the reader simaltaneously. Earl's argument of African-American's living with the challenge of proving ones sisterly or brotherly capabilities hold true today. I believe the book is excellent. Good work, Riggins R. Earl, Jr.

Dark Salutations: Ritual, God, And Greetings In The African American Community is a unique, in-depth analysis of the connection between greetings among the African-American community, and the desire to be treated as equal siblings in the family of God. Author Riggins Earl, a professor of Ethics and Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, examines the light/dark poetic metaphors found in the salutational speech of African-American men and women, and compares it to prophetic and priestly nature in the religious and moral conscience of African-Americans. Dark Salutations is an eye-opening, thought-provoking look at a seemingly ordinary part of African-American life.