An eight-variable model for understanding and predicting alcohol consumption in a sample of 289 African American women is evaluated using a structural equation methodology. We found that life events, physical health problems, and internalized racialism played important roles in accounting for variance in alcohol consumption. Marital status did not have the predicted inverse effect on alcohol consumption. While religious orientation did not have the expected inverse effect on alcohol consumption, it had an unexpected direct effect on internalized racialism, which had a direct effect on alcohol consumption. We found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on alcohol consumption were mediated through other variables specified in the model. Overall the model, which provided partial to complete support for five of eight hypotheses, provided a statistically adequate fit.