The Complicated Life Of The African American Man

During its golden years, the twentieth-century black press was a tool of black men's leadership, public voice, and gender and identity formation. Those at the helm of black newspapers used their platforms to wage a fight for racial justice and black manhood. In a story that stretches from the turn of the twentieth century to the rise of the Black Power movement, D'Weston Haywood argues that black people's ideas, rhetoric, and protest strategies for racial advancement grew out of the quest for manhood led by black newspapers. This history departs from standard narratives of black protest, black men, and the black press by positioning newspapers at the intersections of gender, ideology, race, class, identity, urbanization, the public sphere, and black institutional life. Shedding crucial new light on the deep roots of African Americans' mobilizations around issues of rights and racial justice during the twentieth century, Let Us Make Men reveals the critical, complex role black male publishers played in grounding those issues in a quest to redeem black manhood.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” “You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. “There is a fix,” Acho says. “But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.” In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity—but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a wave of TV shows, first on premium cable channels like HBO and then basic cable networks like FX and AMC, dramatically stretched television's inventiveness, emotional resonance and ambition. Shows such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood, The Shield tackled issues of life and death, love and sexuality, addiction, race, violence and existential boredom. Television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the American Dream at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This revolution happened at the hands of a new breed of auteur: the all-powerful writer-show runner. These were men nearly as complicated, idiosyncratic, and "difficult" as the conflicted protagonists that defined the genre. Given the chance to make art in a maligned medium, they fell upon the opportunity with unchecked ambition. Difficult Men features extensive interviews with all the major players, including David Chase and James Gandolfini ( The Sopranos), David Simon, Dominic West and Ed Burns ( The Wire), Vince Gilligan ( Breaking Bad), Matthew Weiner and Jon Hamm ( Mad Men), David Milch ( NYPD Blue, Deadwood) and Alan Ball ( Six Feet Under), in addition to dozens of other writers, directors, studio executives and actors. Martin takes us behind the scenes of our favourite shows, delivering never-before-heard story after story and revealing how TV has emerged from the shadow of film to become a truly significant and influential part of our culture. Brett Martin is the author of The Supranos: The Book(2007). His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Food and Wine and Vanity Fair. Difficult Men is an insightful history of popular US TV drama which traces the emergence of shows such as The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and The Wire, and explores their engagement with important social issues around love, sexuality, race and violence.

The all new essays in this book discuss black cultural retellings of traditional, European fairy tales. The representation of black protagonists in such tales helps to shape children's ideas about themselves and the world beyond--which can ignite a will to read books representing diverse characters. The need for a multicultural text set which includes the multiplicity of cultures within the black diaspora is discussed. The tales referenced in the text are rich in perspective: they are Aesop's fables, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Ananse. Readers will see that stories from black perspectives adhere to the dictates of traditional literary conventions while still steeped in literary traditions traceable to Africa or the diaspora.

"Satire's real purpose as a literary genre is to criticize through humor, irony, caricature, and parody, and ultimately to defy the status quo. In African American Satire, Darryl Dickson-Carr provides the first book-length study of African-American satire and the vital role it has played. In the process he investigates African American literature, American literature, and the history of satire." --Book Jacket.

"Janice M. Rasheed and Mikal N. Rasheed have produced a well-written and informative work that proposes a variety of innovative and practical strategies. . . A well-documented book, including excellent clinical case studies." --from the Foreword by Jewelle Taylor, Gibbs, Zellerbach Family Fund Professor, University of California, Berkeley "The need for theory related to social work practice with African American men is long overdue. . . . In addressing a broad spectrum of issues, including program development and public policy implications for African American men, Janice M. Rasheed and Mikal N. Rasheed...suggest that men are key to successful interventions with African American families. . . .Uniquely, this book provides detailed clinical counseling methods for practice with African American males that have not previously been demonstrated in social work literature. . . .Rasheed and Rasheed have taken a major step to fill this void by offering a theoretical framework for social work practice intervention that puts African American men at the center of analysis. This book represents a significant breakthrough in social work knowledge. Social Work Practice with African American Men will help bring a visible presence to African American men and their plight in social work literature and practices." --Lawrence E. Gary, Howard University, Washington, DC "The authors′ conceptualization, integrating the ecological, critical constructionist, and cultural perspectives in the service of empowerment, liberation, and social justice in practice with African American men is an outstanding contribution to social work and is on the cutting edge of theory and practice development. . . .A rich, innovative, and fascinating book that may well bridge the gap between the profession and this neglected, misunderstood, and often denigrated population." --Ann Hartman, D.S.W., Dean and Professor Emerita, Smith College "The authors of this useful text provide a lens through which social work practice might more effectively serve African American men. This work is a rich blend of conceptual perspectives, practice guidelines, and processes that the practitioner should find beneficial for enhancing the practice effectiveness with African American men." --Bogart R. Leashore, Dean and Professor, Hunter College Authors Janice M. Rasheed and Mikal N. Rasheed have developed a comprehensive, holistic approach to practice with African American men and their families. Social Work Practice with African American Men is a groundbreaking and long overdue book that proposes a variety of innovative and practical strategies to address relevant issues for African American men in micropractice approaches, such as individual, couple, family, and group treatment issues as well as macropractice approaches, such as policy formulation, program development, and community practice. This well-documented book is enriched with the authors′ years of qualitative research and their considerable clinical experience with African American men. The Rasheeds sensitively apply a multidisciplinary conceptual framework that integrates ecological, Africentric, and critical constructionist theoretical perspectives in their multilayered analysis of the various psychological, social, and economic issues confronted by African men and their families. These perspectives are skillfully applied to the life experiences of African American men with results that reflect their diversity, vulnerability, victimization, perseverance, adaptability, resilience, and strength. Excellent clinical case studies are used to illustrate the application of the multidimensional model of assessment and treatment. Professionals and students in social work, human services, family studies, ethnic studies, and multicultural counseling will find Social Work Practice with African American Men a reliable resource.

This groundbreaking book applies the concept of social determinants of health to the health of African- American men. While there have been significant efforts in recent years to eliminate health disparities, serious disparities continue to exist especially with regard to African–American men who continue to suffer disproportionately from poor health when compared to other racial, ethnic, and gender groups in the United States. This book covers the most important issues relating to social determinants of health and also offers viable strategies for reducing health disparities.