Reaching up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America

The author of Fist Stick Knife Gun brings powerful new insight to the lives of boys in America today: "More and more I have become concerned with what boys think they should be, and what they believe it means to be a man." He lays out the little-understood history of drugs and their marketing to inner-city boys and takes a hard look at the issue of too-early sex, showing us, through a pointed story of his own sexual education on the streets, how the combination of age-old urges with new cultural forces and mores has created a volatile sexual terrain for boys. Canada writes indelibly of the young boy he once was and of the crucial issues ófatherhood, healing, mentors, self-esteem, faith, and more óthat must be negotiated as boys in America reach up for manhood.

Boys are conditioned not to let on that it hurts, never to say, "I'm still scared." I have come to see that in teaching boys to deny their own pain we inadvertently teach them to deny the pain of others. . . . We must remember to tell them, "I know it hurts. Come let me hold you. I'll hold you until it stops. And if you find out that the hurt comes back, I'll hold you again. I'll hold you until you're healed."

"Reaching Up for Manhood took me by surprise, because it is so tender, and so unpretentious, and so personal. It's a beautiful story, simply told óhonest, deeply sensitive, and morally empowering óby one of the few authentic heroes of New York and one of the best friends children have, or ever will have, in our nation."

—Jonathan Kozol

From the role model, the griot, the nurturer, the brother who never left the 'hood because he keeps looking into the faces of the children and seeing himself there (Patricia Smith, The Boston Globe)-a new book that brings powerful new insight into the lives of boys in America today.

Geoffrey Canada writes, More and more I have become concerned with what boys think they should be, and what they believe it means to be a man. He explores, through passionately observed storytelling, what we are truly telling our boys about manhood. He lays out the little understood and intertwined history of drugs and marketing to inner city boys, a history that has led to consumption levels of forties and blunts that are excessive beyond excuse. Canada takes a hard look at the issues of too-early sex and, through a pointed story of his own sexual education on the streets, reminds us that the combination of the same old urges with new cultural forces and mores has resulted in a volatile sexual terrain for boys. He writes indelibly of the young boy he once was, one desperately needing a father's love, and of the crucial issues-fatherhood, mentors, self-esteem, faith, healing, and more-that must be negotiated as boys reach up for manhood. A moving and revelatory report by a dedicated father and gifted child advocate.

Geoffrey Canada is president of the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in New York City. He is the recipient of a 1995 Heinz Foundation Award and a Parents Magazine Award for his work in child advocacy, and he is author of Fist Stick Knife Gun (Beacon/paperback/0-8070-0423-5/$12.00).