First published 2022
Shaka Senghor addresses two very different relationships with fatherhood through letters to his sons Jay and Sekou. Jay was born while Senghor served nineteen years for second-degree murder. Sekou arrived after his release. The New York Times bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs examines how incarceration shaped his connection to his first child and how freedom allowed him to build intimacy with his second. Senghor confronts the damaging messages about masculinity that boys absorb early in life. He challenges ideas about mental health, love, and success that harm Black men and fathers. His letters call for positive male relationships and emotional healing. The book targets fathers struggling to express love and sons navigating life without fathers present. Senghor argues that men and boys must rewrite the stories told about them and create space for affection and support between generations.
Genres: family, african-american, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Unknown Binding · Convergent Books
Content warnings: mental-illness