AbstractLiterature can aid social workers in increasing their knowledge of diverse cultures. Such cultural sensitivity is crucial for social workers to successfully provide social services to families. Given the disproportionate number of African American children placed in substitute care, social workers must develop to the utmost their capacity to engage African American families in family-based services to prevent placements and reunite families. This article uses three plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson to help deepen understanding of the characteristics of African American families for school social workers and other child welfare practitioners. The stories and metaphors bring social research on African American culture to life and illuminate the characteristic strengths and traditional values of mutual aid through extended kin, class cooperation, male-female equality, and prosocial behavior of children. Potential vulnerable areas, the ravages of racial injustice, and new possibilities also emerge in such areas as parental interaction, fathers' relationship with children, and leaving home.