After raising eight children and with decades of psychology experience, Dr. Robert Williams is uniquely qualified to provide this much-needed book on how to raise black children properly from a black perspective. In "Raising Black Kids to be O.K.," parents will learn how to develop a black identity, deal with racial profiling and questions about biracial children, build character traits such as honesty and responsibility, and instill compassion and patience.

One African-American parent's perspective highlights the reason a book on raising black kids properly is needed:

A lot of black parents aren't doing their job. They are too young or immature to be parents in the first place. Some of them are drinking, and/or using drugs and some of them do not understand what they're supposed to be doing to raise productive, successful children. Perhaps they, themselves, have no clear examples of good parenting.

Most parents, at some point or another, find themselves at their wits' end on how to handle a problem with their child. "Raising Black Kids to be O.K." shows parents through proverbs, real examples and fables how to cope with these problems and help their child eventually become a mature, well-adjusted adult. The book teaches black parents to be consistent in parenting, such as by establishing a discipline plan for handling both simple and difficult family problems ranging from bossiness to disrespect and bullying. It also discusses common mistakes black parents make in raising their kids, provides guidelines for correcting them and offers examples of proper -- and improper -- child-rearing techniques.



Dr. Robert Williams has spent 25 years as professor of psychology and black studies at two universities and 30-plus years in private practice as a clinical psychologist, as well as coining the term "ebonics." Williams earned a master's degree in educational psychology from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis - the first African-American to earn a doctorate in psychology from that university.

Williams, a longtime critic of cultural bias in standardized testing, developing the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity, which led to awareness of cultural bias in IQ testing. Williams himself scored only 82 on an IQ test in high school but enrolled in Philander Smith College, graduating with honors. He has been a guest on national television programs relating to IQ testing, including CBS's "IQ Myth" with Dan Rather, "Prime Time Saturday Night," "The Phil Donohue Show" and "The Montel Williams Show."

As professor of psychology and African and African-American studies at Washington University, Williams developed both its Black Studies Program and the Graduate Training Program in Minority Mental Health. He also served as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Black Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia and as interim director of Black Studies. Williams was distinguished further by being inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Now retired, he and his wife, Ava, have been married for 65 years. Contact him for speaking engagements at (314) 862-4120 or dr1ebonics4@aol.com.