At a time when the media is full of talk about what is wrong with African American families, when Black love is depicted in an unflattering light, if at all, Paula L. Woods and Felix H. Liddell offer a welcome change in their powerful anthology, I Hear a Symphony: African Americans Celebrate Love. Woods and Liddell do more than just document positive images - these selections of text and art are a moving and beautiful testament to the legacy, the range, and the promise of African American love.I Hear a Symphony explores the many dimensions of Black love through a powerful combination of poetry, love letters, and excerpts from speeches, essays, novels, and plays. The pieces included represent the work of many great African American writers past and present, as well as the writings of ordinary people expressing extraordinary love. Each of the seven sections of the book focuses on a particular type of love: from self-love to love of community; from love of family to romantic love. These writings are accented and complemented by a striking selection of full-color works of African American art by artists such as Aaron Douglas, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., and Betye Saar, among others.While speaking directly to the Black experience, I Hear a Symphony communicates love in a way that can be universally understood. The contents of this anthology will have you sighing, crying, and nodding in recognition. From the pain of W. E. B. Du Bois's On the Passing of the First-Born to Terry McMillan's inspiring story Quilting on the Rebound; from Bebe Moore Campbell's call to healing in Black Must Be Beautiful Again to Malcolm X's words of praise and gratitude for his wife, I Hear a Symphony is a dynamic celebration of the strength and beauty of love.