Black America Breaking News for the African American Community
Related Articles
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me delves into the particular challenge of raising a Black boy in the U.S. In the book, which is written as a letter to his son, he shares his own experiences and the country’s history of violence against Black Americans. Still, he encourages his son to find a way to survive all the same, to become “a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.”
Every Friday in the Books Briefing, we thread together Atlantic stories on books that share similar ideas. Know other book lovers who might like this guide? Forward them this email.
When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
What We’re Reading
Cohen / Ostrow / Getty
Raising boys with a broader definition of masculinity
“For many young boys, there continues to be a very small space that they can occupy to be considered traditionally ‘masculine,’ and that small space can be restricting, forcing boys to lose what doesn’t fit inside it.”
📚 How to Raise a Boy, by Michael Reichert
Peter Marlow / Magnum
To my son: Men have to ‘allow ourselves to be loved’
“You sharing your pain with me relieved my own terror of fathering a son. In allowing me to comfort you, you comforted me.”
📚 A Better Man, by Michael Ian Black
Jaunty Junto / Getty
Stay-at-home dads are reshaping American masculinity
“In Manhood Impossible, [Scott Melzer] characterizes the stay-at-home dads, and in particular those who stay home voluntarily, as men who’ve recalibrated their personal definition of what manhood really means.”
📚 Manhood Impossible, by Scott Melzer
Jessica Love
Today’s masculinity is stifling
“As boys grow up, the process of becoming men encourages them to shed the sort of intimate connections and emotional intelligence that add meaning to life.”
📚 Raising My Rainbow, by Lori Duron
📚 Jacob’s New Dress, by Ian Hoffman and Sarah Hoffman
Darhil Crooks / The Atlantic
“I love you, and I love the world, and I love it more with every new inch I discover. But you are a Black boy, and you must be responsible for your body in a way that other boys cannot know.”
📚 Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
About us: This week’s newsletter is written by Kate Cray. The book she’s reading next is Girlhood by Melissa Febos.
Comments, questions, typos? Reply to this email to reach the Books Briefing team.
Did you get this newsletter from a friend? Sign yourself up.
Source link
