A crisis exists in the black family today due to the high unemployment of black men, the high separation rates of parents, the dramatic increase in the number of unwed mothers, and the subsequent heading of nearly one-half of black families by women. There is nothing necessarily wrong with being raised in a home with a single mother. Biographies of 25 famous black Americans and interviews with 25 successful educators, physicians, lawyers, ministers, and politicians who are black showed common experiences which include: (1) a working mother outside the home; (2) black elementary school teachers; (3) extended family and friendly neighbors; (4) belief in education as a way out of poverty; (5) intervention by an important person during adolescence; (6) firm discipline from the mother; (7) nurturing from the grandmother; (8) expectations from mother and teachers that the children would be successful; and (9) job responsibilities in the home from age 8 and a part-time job as a teenager. Strategies are needed to help black single parent families. An androgynous black single parent who is a female head of household and who uses masculine (instrumental) and feminine (expressive) behavior routinely may provide a useful parenting model for black single mothers. Blending these behavior skills increases the chances of heading a functional family. An androgynous mother still needs male allies to intervene when her male children needs them. (ABL)