Raising Black Boys

by Jawanza Kunjufu

Geared towards African American parents, this handbook offers more than 100 tips on successfully guiding boys into manhood and helping them avoid common pitfalls. By understanding the detrimental impact that peer pressure, rap music, and television have on today’s youth, especially males, parents can learn how to effectively support their children.

Genres: Parenting, Education

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good points. I liked the inclusion of statistics. I was turned off by his reasoning that there are more gay black males now simply because they don't want to be thugs.. as if that's an alternative.

[Africanpersonalities2000 · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful read, resourceful and dynamic in the methodology employed by the author must have for all black and brown families alike.

peace and light

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with good advice for mothers and fathers on raising black boys in our current society.

[Daryea Satterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book as to the behaviors of young black males and how we as educators, parents, the village can do to keep them on right path and thinking toward a fruitful future. I think all parents, educators and administrators who teach should give this a read. I have a newborn boy and will employ suggestions listed in this book. I was raised in Baltimore City by a single black mother and I find a lot of what Dr. Kunjufu mentions in this book to be very accurate.

[Nana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book. Most of the stuff was realistic when raising a black child. I recommend this book

[Breanna]

Great book for ANY RACE not just African American! Insightful tools for both mothers and fathers, and the other holds no bars when it comes to placing blame!

[Ọlábísí Àkàndé · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. There are many salient nuggets and which one might inly learn in hindsight and it's good to have them before hand.

Of course, it is centered on African American and also Christian values, a reader can take out what they think is not relevant to their own peculiar situation.

[Javetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of good information in the book but it is steeped in overgeneralizations and stereotypes. It has a narrow viewpoint and does not leave room for any of the nuances that we (black parents) or our sons face on the 18 year journey of childhood. The book is not very well organized and seems like he just started typing everything that came to his mind about the topic of each chapter. He repeats a lot of things, and he has a plethora of statistics (many of which seem a bit inflated) but doesn’t have any footnotes or cited sources for these statistics.

[Nukunu · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read Kunjufu's book, and I have to say it's a mixed bag for me. While the statistics are nice, much of the critiques for women he "offers" isn't really cogent, and his rather compartmentalized view of fathers is also pretty arbitrary. He touches on a few hot-button issues, notably child support and parenting rights, but avoid this tired trope. His book shines later on when he actually delves into what the book's about, with advice on health, insight on ways to appropriately make sure your child isn't limited by a faulty scholastic system, and recommends the best kinds of schools for your children.

Moralistically, this book's worth, while good-intentioned, will hinge on whether you share the same views ideologically as Kunjufu. There are certain points where the advice he offers hinges on your religious standing, and it's relevance becomes very subjective. He occasionally segues into paranoid rants about homosexuality before returning to the chapter's topic, and his rather patriarchal view of manhood will present problems to those whose understandings of sexuality and gender are more diverse. Otherwise, for the appropriate audience - and those who can cherry pick - this is a solid offering. When he's talking about the struggles boys will face, and how to cope with them - while challenging racist notions perpetrated by white supremacists- this book is a breath of fresh air.

[Kenrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An empowering read and a guideline people of color need to consider.

[Falandria Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book from beginning to end. I'd definitely recommend this book to parents especially singles mothers like myself raising an African American male. A must read book!

[Laura LeAnn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Put this in the category of did not finish. While I understand that this is meant for black parents of black sons, I picked it up in hopes that it could help me, as a white woman, parent my black son. The first issue for me was the typeface and changing of the size of the font from one chapter to the next. There doesn't seem to be any reason for that so I just didn't understand that. Then, while there are statistics provided about the rate of dropouts in high school, poverty rates, children being raised in single parent households, etc., the author seems to write in a more stream of consciousness style. While that may be fine when giving speeches at various events, which this author does, writing a book is a different matter. I just couldn't get into this book very far before I gave up. There might be helpful information in this book, but I didn't get to that part.