Last week, I went to a book event at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The guest writer was Colson Whitehead, who recently released his novel The Underground Railroad. I was in packed 400-seat auditorium, but I was one out of ten black men and one out of twenty-five black persons. I would later discover that some people believe that his target audience isn’t people from the African diaspora and while finishing this novel, I tend to agree with that assessment. However, my point is regardless of the book, I would love to see more black men so we can share our prospective. I do believe that believe that Black men do read, but I offered wonder what’s in their library.
Reading books is one of my strongest passions. However, I didn’t start reading books avidly until Freshman year at Delaware State University. It started when New York Times Bestselling Author Eric Jerome Dickey came to my school by invitation of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. Previously in high school, I wasn’t able to locate any books that caught my interest because I was forced to read books like The Great Gatsby, MacBeth, Beowulf, etc. After reading one of his books, Cheaters, I went back to Borders ® (wow, I’m telling my age) to purchase the rest of his books. After that I started reading more books by other African American fiction authors like Terry McMillan, Kimberla Lawson Roby, E. Lynn Harris and Carl Weber. Then I started reading young adult fiction like Gossip Girl (which is why I never cared for the show) and Drama High. Now I’m reading nonfiction books. In other words, once I picked up a book I haven’t been able to put one down. I understand the saying, “if you want to hide money from a Black man, put it in a book.” During the era of slavery in America, it was illegal for Blacks to learn how to read. Their overseers knew that having the power of literary would empower them to gain their freedom. Still today, I find books to be totally liberating because it frees my mind and simulated my mental processes. Outside of the genres that I have already mentioned, I read 15 different literary genres:
- Business/Economics
- Textbooks
- Self-Help/Motivation
- Science/Nature
- Religion (non-bias)
- Autobiographies/Biographies
- Law
- History
- Technology
- Trivia
- Mathematics
- Social Issues
- Foreign/Sign Language
- Linguistics
- Psychology
I encourage Black men to read books that they would find interesting. With technology and book distributors like Amazon, it’s easy to find a book that suites your interest. Some people say that reading makes them sleepy. That’s actually a good thing. Reading before going to be is much better than watching TV or being on your mobile device and it’s healthier. Personally, I don’t recommend using reading on a mobile device, with the exception of the regular ereaders like the Kindle or the Nook. I will be starting a blog site soon that advocates literacy amongst Black men. I think it’s time for those who care about the health of Black men should help to promote literacy.
