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After two decades, critically acclaimed author, creative writing coach, literary consultant, and co-founder of The Hurston/Wright Foundation Marita Golden revisits her seminal work,
Saving Our Sons. In it, Golden was the first Black writer to address the horrifying phenomenon of police brutality wrought upon young Black men. This intimate account of a mother’s efforts to save her son, which includes conversations with psychologists, writers, and young Black males themselves, remains a timely read.
List of contents
Contents
Author’s Preface
Acknowledgements
Calling My Name
Trouble the Waters
An Acquaintance with Grief
Soon One Morning
Epilogue
The Dead Call Us to Remember
About the Author
About the author
Marita
Golden is an accomplished author of dozens of critically acclaimed
novels and nonfiction works, including The Strong Black
Woman (Mango 2021). She is also the co-founder of The Hurston/Wright
Foundation, an American literary nonprofit organization that provides
workshops, classes, support, and community for talented and successful Black
writers. During her teaching career, she has taught creative writing at
numerous colleges and universities, including Johns Hopkins University and
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Marita is the
recipient of many esteemed writing and literary activism awards, such as the
International Literary Hall of Fame of Writers of African Descent Inductee
(Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University), the Barnes and Noble
Writers for Writers Award (Poets and Writers), and the Distinguished Service
Award (Authors Guild).
Currently, as a masterful
creative writing coach and literary consultant, Marita spends her time coaching
burgeoning and seasoned authors through the necessary stages of fear and
anxiety in the creative process.
Nathan McCall served as a reporter for several newspapers, including The Washington Post, where he worked until taking a leave of absence to write his bestselling memoir, Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America.
Makes Me Wanna Holler was a New York Times bestseller and won the Blackboard Book of the Year Award for 1995. McCall's second publication, released in 1997, is a series of personal essays titled What's Going On.
Nathan made his fiction debut with Them, a timely and penetrating story that explores the complexities of gentrification. Them was cited by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of 2007. In 2008, the novel reached No. 1 on the Essence magazine bestseller list. Also, the Georgia Center for the Book nominated Them as one of ten finalists for the 2008 Townsend Prize for Fiction, awarded to an outstanding novel or short-story collection published by a Georgia writer during the past two years.
McCall also served as a visiting lecturer in the African American Studies Department at Emory University in Atlanta.
Born in Port-au-Prince, M.J. Fievre, B.S. Ed, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Barry University. A seasoned K–12 teacher, a creator of safe spaces, and an initiator of difficult conversations, she spent much time building up her students, helping them feel comfortable in their own skin, and affirming their identities. Her close relationships with parents and students led her to look more closely at how we can balance protecting a child’s innocence with preparing them for the realities of life. She has taught creative writing workshops to children and teens at the O Miami Poetry Festival and the Miami Art Museum, as well as in various schools in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), and South Florida. She’s also been a keynote speaker at Tufts University (Massachusetts), Howard University (Washington, DC), the University of Miami (Florida), and Michael College (Vermont) and has served as a panelist at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference (AWP).
M.J.’s publishing career began as a teenager in her native Haiti. At nineteen years old, she signed her first book contract with Hachette-Deschamps for the publication of a YA book titled La Statuette Maléfique. Since then, M.J. has released nine YA books in French that are widely read in Europe and the French Antilles, and she is the author of the award-winning Badass Black Girl book series for tweens and teens (in English). One Moore Book published M.J.’s first children’s book, I Am Riding, as part of a special limited series edited by Edwidge Danticat. A middle-grade book, Young Trailblazers, and picture book, Sam Is Afraid of Christmas, are both set to be released by DragonFruit in the fall of 2021.
As the ReadCaribbean program coordinator for the prestigious Miami Book Fair, M.J. directs and produces the children’s cultural show Taptap Krik? Krak! For her podcast, MJ has interviewed many literary legends, including Edwidge Danticat, Alice Randall, and Nikki Giovanni.
Summary
Raising Black Teen Boys in Turbulent Times
"It is always heartening to see women step up to the writer's table. When the results are as adroit and affecting as Marita Golden's work, it is more than satisfying; it is a cause for celebration."—
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate
Two decades ago, Marita was the first Black writer to address the horrifying statistic that haunts all Black mothers: the leading cause of death among Black males under twenty-one is homicide. Today, police brutality rages on as millions call for the reformation of our broken law enforcement in the wake of the traumatic murders of Black teen boys like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Daunte Wright. Read an intimate account of a mother’s efforts to save her son. Writing her son’s story against the backdrop of a society plagued by systemic racism, economic inequality, and mass incarceration, Golden offers a form of witness and testimony in a time of crisis for Black Americans.
Learn how to grapple with the realities of Black America. Join Golden as she confronts the root causes of violence inflicted upon Black teen boys and reassesses the legacy of her own generation's struggle for civil rights. Explore Black boys’ difficult road to adulthood in the U.S. and learn why single Black mothers are often wrongly blamed for their sons’ actions.
Gain invaluable advice and knowledge from trustworthy sources. In
Saving Our Sons, Golden documents her conversations with psychologists, writers, and young Black males themselves.
This book is designed to help you: - Discuss and unpack generational trauma with loved ones
- Gain deeper insight into the injustices Black children face in the U.S.
- Recognize the importance of community for the success of Black teen boys
If you liked Decoding Boys, Mother & Son: Our Back & Forth Journal, The Boy Crisis or Boy Mom, you’ll love Saving Our Sons.
Additional text
“It is always heartening to see women step up to the writer's table. When the results are as adroit and affecting as Marita Golden's work, it is more than satisfying; it is a cause for celebration.”—Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate
“Marita Golden has captured the special pain that shadows the joy of Black parenthood in these turbulent times. Elegantly written, this book is a breakthrough.”—Chicago Tribune
“A wonderful storyteller, an uncompromising mind, Marita Golden explores the
African-American experience in a completely original way.”—Newsweek
“In this book, Marita reminds us why every black parent should be vigilant and intentional in considering how to steer young black boys—and girls as well—through the precarious passage to adulthood. Saving Our Sons is disturbingly relevant in this, the twenty-first century. It’s a compelling read.”—Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America
"One of the most important pieces of literature for Black parents."—MJ Fievre, author of Raising Confident Black Kids
