In this anthology, fourteen articles on mental health and the black community are collected. Topics considered include family life, childhood environment, adolescence, work and adulthood, the black aged, functions of the social network, ecological influences, mental health services, public policy, the black mental health network force, and research on the mental health of black people. Contributors identify stress as the chief component of mental illness among blacks, particularly as it relates to work experience and life in the inner city. The need for developing a definition of mental health for blacks that does not depend upon white behavior as a normative standard is emphasized. It is concluded that mental health rests on the ability of black people to utilize their resources, including their built in social networks, to fight the debilitating effects of institutional and personal racism. Tracing the history of mental health care for minorities in America, with reference to public policy of the last two decades, it is suggested that there is a need for greater participation of blacks in the total mental health care delivery system. (Author/WI)