Being a Black Man: At the Corner of Progress and Peril - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586485229 ISBN 13: 9781586485221

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2007

Synopsis

Over the last 100 years, perhaps no segment of the American population has been more analyzed than black males. The subject of myriad studies and dozens of government boards and commissions, black men have been variously depicted as the progenitors of pop culture and the menaces of society, their individuality often obscured by the narrow images that linger in the public mind. Ten years after the Million Man March, the largest gathering of black men in the nation's history, Washington Post staffers began meeting to discuss what had become of black men in the ensuing decade. How could their progress and failures be measured?

Their questions resulted in a Post series which generated enormous public interest and inspired a succession of dynamic public meetings. It included the findings of an ambitious nationwide poll and offered an eye-opening window into questions of race and black male identity -- questions gaining increasing attention with the emergence of Senator Barack Obama as a serious presidential contender. At the end of the day, the project revealed that black men are deeply divided over how they view each other and their country.

Now collected in one volume with several new essays as well as an introduction by Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Edward P. Jones, these poignant and provocative articles let us see and hear black men like they've never been seen and heard before.

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Reviews

Tackling the thorny subject of America's black men and their place in the national experience with balanced analysis and superb writing, Washington Post staff writers don't miss a beat. Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Edward P. Jones sets the tone with an astute introduction about growing up without a father in D.C. and the emotional complications of lacking mentoring. Excellent journalistic features include Michael A. Fletcher's title piece, At the Corner of Progress and Peril, examining the many missed opportunities of these besieged men; Stephen A. Holmes and Richard Morin's insightful exploration of how black men perceive themselves, A Portrait Shaded with Promise and Doubt; and Robert E. Pierre's The Young Apprentice, which reveals a college-educated couple's preparation of their son to enter the world. Kissah Williams offers a candid meditation on eligible black men in Singled Out, while David Finkel writes powerfully on The Meaning of Work. Covering sociological, psychological and spiritual topics, the book provides a comprehensive view of the African-American man in contemporary America. (Sept.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1586485229
• ISBN 13: 9781586485221
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Kevin Merida