Candid and uplifting ... This book is a clarion call to families and communities to provide crucial support to young people, particularly young Black men.
Jawando has written an enlightening, heartfelt memoir that will appeal to readers looking for a 'different' all-American story; one that shows the power of community to uplift Black men in the United States.
[A] rousing debut ... In vivid and moving passages, he describes the impact these men had on him during crucial times in his life ... As Jawando lucidly details, the net effect of the loving support he received helped him become 'a statistic on the positive side of America’s skewed racial balance sheet.' This effective combination of the personal and the political acts as a powerful call to action in these fraught times
The author’s stories and analysis serve as an homage to the importance of providing Black boys with Black male role models ... While Jawando begins with the idea that systemic racism can be cured with personal responsibility, in the remainder of the text, he deftly uses his personal story to provide a trenchant structural analysis of how American racism plays out in Black men’s everyday lives. His talent for creating striking imagery and memorable scenes draws readers in to his masterfully constructed world. Jawando treats his past self with compassion without ever skirting responsibility for his mistakes. A beautifully written and innovatively structured memoir of a biracial Black man’s life journey.
