There is a new book coming out that is edited by Camille Cosby and Renee Poussaint (who was a journalist) called
A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak It is basically a collection of essays by black elders such as John Hope Franklin, Maya Angelou, Dorothy Height, Gordon Parks, and the ever-popular rubydeeossiedavis (you can't get one without the other
)
This book comes out in Fall '03, and if I can afford it, I'm going to get it.