Introduction : love is our hope -- The heart of the matter -- We wear the mask -- The issue of self-love -- Valuing ourselves rightly -- Moving beyond shame -- Mama love -- Cherishing single mothers -- Loving black masculinity : fathers, lovers, friends -- Heterosexual love : union and reunion -- Embracing gayness : unbroken circles -- Loving justice.

"Written from a historical and cultural perspective, Salvation takes an incisive look at the transformative power of love in the lives of African-Americans. Whether talking about the legacy of slavery, relationships, and marriage in black life, the prose and poetry of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Malcolm X, and Maya Angelou, the liberation movements of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, sexual pain or pleasure, hip-hop and gangsta rap culture, addiction, greed, or the failure of black leadership, hooks lets us know what love's got to do with it." "Combining the passionate politics of W.E.B. DuBois with fresh, contemporary insights, hooks brilliantly offers new visions that will heal our nation's wounds from a culture of lovelessness." "Her writings on love and its inextricable links to race, class, family, history, and popular culture raise one pivotal question: How can we create beloved American communities? Salvation is bell hooks's journey to answer this question - an offering for everyone who cares about the souls of black folk." --Book Jacket.