MS Thang Real Knights Dont Show Up at 3 in the

Elliott sends a wake-up message to her African American sisters: ""We're letting ourselves get dissed all over the place... because we don't know our value as human beings, and society is most definitely not helping."" In this forthright, supportive black women's guide to love, sex, dating and romantic relationships, she pays special attention to rifts within the African American community: rifts over skin color (because some blacks internalize the white majority's prejudice in favor of lighter tones), over intermarriage, over ""across-the-tracks-itis"" (discrimination against those living in a worse or better neighborhood) and over ""the struggle to maintain our blackness while maintaining and developing relationships within Caucasian society."" Elliott, a Californian who has worked in public relations and fundraising, states that the black woman has a ""three-dimensional soul"" comprised of the wise, independent, fearless ""Queen Mother,"" the confident, sophisticated ""Ms. Thang"" and the strong, sociable ""Sista-Girl."" More of a metaphor than a psychological system, this scheme is applied in scattershot fashion as she offers pragmatic, sensitive advice on everything from parenting to mate selection to ending abusive relationships. Author tour. (Feb.)