A Novel Way of Researching the Family as a Caring Community

The following is a guest post by Lois Benjamin, author of Ascension: The Sociology of an African American Family’s Generational Journey, which is now available wherever books are sold.

“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.” H. Jackson Brown’s line captures the process of making this groundbreaking, ethnographic case study, Ascension: The Sociology of an African American Family’s Generational Journey. This exploration is an inspiring American story that depicts how a large, close-knit African American family with humble origins in a small town of North Carolina is shaped by the contours of its religious and ethical value system. Their shared code of beliefs and practices helped its members to build social capital and to improve their chances of upward mobility. As a researcher I became close to the family. This connection not only empowered me to gain valuable insights into the family dynamics, but also into my role and identity as a sociologist. It changed the trajectory of my research path. The resulting outcome of the rich story, originally intended as a newspaper article, morphed into a book, the format worthy of the value and implications of this family’s experiences.  

The lives and legacy of Pennie and Roscoe is a tour de force American story of how they aspired to raise twelve children in the midst of a place short on hope during the Jim Crow South and long on promise during the Civil Rights and post-Civil Rights eras of Elizabeth City, NC. Despite the challenges of daily living, which for some would be crushing, through hard-earned daily experience, they transmitted life skills and values that led to their success, strength, confidence, and well-being. This work traces the noble character traits that gave them the resources they needed to thrive and the resilience to meet adversity. In Ascension, the James children present their personal, unique perspectives on how faith, goodwill, compassion, empathy, familial solidarity, and savvy entrepreneurship led to their continued generational success. Within the James family, this communitarian and entrepreneurial spirit not only has produced ethical and caring servant leaders, but it has also fashioned its share of socially conscious entrepreneurs and innovators, leading to both individual and group mobility. Significantly, the lessons learned by the James family can be applied today as we face different, but no less challenging times in our society.

This is especially so with our current climate of incivility, conspiratorial theories, political violence and the polarized politics of age, race, gender, culture, and class in the United States that contribute to the growing social isolation, loneliness, and lack of meaning. The James family’s values of compassion, empathy, transcendent kindness, and an ethic of care offer hope in a time of nadir. Theirs are values of common good that promote respect and concern for others that serve as a building block for democracy.

I believe Ascension contributes to sociology, the scholarly literature, public intellectuals, and the general public in the following ways: First, this exposition of heart, empathy, grit, and grace highlights the strengths of a family, as opposed to family deficits, which is too often the focus for African American families.  Second, a dearth of ethnographic case study research exists about families across generations and about sibling relationships. This study helps to fill in the gap. Additionally, this exploration can serve as a springboard for new investigative ways of seeing and thinking about family dynamics, which can lead to new theory building. Third, this case study contributes to the field of social research by offering a novel and engaging approach to understanding the social world. It calls into question traditional ways of doing research, which see subjectivity and emotions as a source of bias in the research process. While it is important to recognize inherent biases, subjectivity and emotions can be a source of strength. With integrity and humility, it allows the researcher to move beyond the family’s front façade and to authentically penetrate its interior walls and gain valuable understandings. My sociological blind spot conditioned me to focus on shared objective factors like education, religion and other influences that contributed to the Jameses’ success and close social bonding. Interestingly, from inside the interior walls, I discovered the importance of subjective factors like empathy and an ethic of care that increased familial bonding. These factors also led to the family’s upward mobility. Fourth, this American story is an exposition of the power of values, shining light on the power of values to shape destiny in spite of circumstances. Over the last several decades, the study of values has largely been neglected in the sociology discipline. This work makes a contribution by recentering the significant role values play in social behavior. Fifth, this work is a strong contribution to the literature on the reproduction of social values. And finally, this book contributes to the emerging field of Positive Sociology.

It is my hope that this scholarship and publication of Ascension: The Sociology of an African American Family’s Generational Journey recenters values that focus on an ethic of care, compassion, empathy, kindness, and service to others to build caring communities.

Lois Benjamin is professor emerita of sociology at Hampton University and author of several books, including The Black Elite: Still Facing the Color Line in the Twenty-First Century.