My Seven Black Fathers: A Young Activist's Memoir of Race, Family, and the Mentors Who Made Him Whole

by Will Jawando, Will Jawando (Read by)

Overview

This program is read by the author, Will Jawando, who has been called “the progressive leader we need” by the late congressman John Lewis.

“Will Jawando’s account of mentorship, service, and healing lays waste to the racist stereotype of the absent Black father. By arguing that Black fathers are not just found in individual families, but are indeed the treasure of entire Black communities, Will makes the case for a bold idea: that Black men can counter racist ideas and policies by virtue of their presence in the lives of Black boys and young men. This is a story we need to hear.” —New York Times–bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi

My Seven Black Fathers: The Men Who Made Me Whole is a call to action for Black men to step forward and mentor Black boys. Will Jawando is the beneficiary of such mentoring. He calls himself the proud son of not one but seven Black fathers—all of them men who changed the course of his life.

As a boy, Will, who went by his Nigerian name Yemi, felt awkward and alone as he was shunted from school to school in suburban Maryland. His mother was divorced, his relationship with his biological father was frayed, and he lost his best friend to gun violence. Without his Black fathers, each one contributing something profound to his character and enlarging his sense of life’s possibilities, he surely would not have become the man he is today—civil rights and education policy attorney, county councilman, husband, father.

Inspired by Jawando's involvement in My Brother’s Keeper, President Obama’s successful mentorship program for young men of color, My Seven Black Fathers explores the bonds that developed between Jawando and the host of father figures who formed him: Mr. Williams, the math teacher who saw that he was bullied and taught him to tie his first tie; Joseph, the stepfather who altered his understanding of family; Jay Fletcher, the openly gay colleague of his mother who persuaded him to stop filling the emptiness inside with fast food and introduced him to the theater; Mr. Holmes, the high school chorus director and former athlete who taught him to use his voice and saw him through a crushing disappointment; and Deen Sanwoola, who helped him bridge the gap between his American upbringing and his Nigerian heritage—eventually leading to a reconciliation with his biological father. Jawando also explores the impact of Barack Obama as a role model, describing how he and the president bonded over their similar backgrounds and shared political commitments. When Obama first hired Will while working in the U.S. Senate, he introduced him as “my long lost brother.” Jawando was 27 years old when President Obama invited him to be associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Grounded in a deep appreciation of Black male experience, My Seven Black Fathers is an exciting new take on the transformative role Black men can have in each other’s lives.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250856319
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Product dimensions:	1.00(w) x 1.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Will Jawando is an attorney, an activist, a community leader, and a councilmember in Montgomery County, Maryland, a diverse community of more than one million residents. Called “the progressive leader we need” by the late congressman John Lewis, Jawando has worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Sherrod Brown, and President Barack Obama. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post and The Root and on BET.com, and his work has been featured in The New York Times and New York magazine and on NPR, NBC News, and MTV. He regularly appears on CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

1 Joseph Jacob 15

2 Mr. Williams 40

3 Jay Fletcher 67

4 Wayne Holmes 87

5 Deen Sanwoola 120

6 Barack Obama 150

7 Olayinka Jawando 196

Acknowledgments 229

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/28/2022

In this rousing debut, attorney and community leader Jawando brilliantly uses the arc of his life to root out how “Black male mentors... make America a more just place for Black boys and a better place for all Americans.” He deploys a novel narrative device by tracing his path to “wholeness” through the stories of seven men who shaped his “sense of what it means to be a Black man in twenty-first-century America.” In vivid and moving passages, he describes the impact these men had on him during crucial times in his life—noting, for example, how he rediscovered his “sense of identity” with the help of his stepfather Joseph Jacob, and how his fourth grade math teacher, Mr. Williams, left a powerful mark on his life by protecting him from bullying and racism. Another particularly stirring section sees Jawando reconnecting with his estranged father before going on to serve as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama (another noted “father figure”) in 2009. As Jawando lucidly details, the net effect of the loving support he received helped him become “a statistic on the positive side of America’s skewed racial balance sheet.” This effective combination of the personal and the political acts as a powerful call to action in these fraught times. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Throughout My Seven Black Fathers, Jawando uses his current vantage to offer trenchant assessments of his past that branch out into urgent cultural conversations about present-day subjects like respectability politics and the dominant narratives of fatherless households, among others. As Jawando notes, 'The power of these Black male mentors is that they make America a more just place for Black boys and a better place for all Americans.'" —Manuel Betancourt, The New York Times Book Review

"A passionate 'love letter to Black men' . . . Candid and uplifting . . . This book is a clarion call to families and communities to provide crucial support to young people, particularly young Black men." —Andrienne Cruz, Booklist (starred review)

"[A] rousing debut . . . Jawando brilliantly uses the arc of his life to root out how 'Black male mentors... make America a more just place for Black boys and a better place for all Americans' . . . Vivid and moving . . . Stirring . . . A powerful call to action in these fraught times." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[Jawando] deftly uses his personal story to provide a trenchant structural analysis of how American racism plays out in Black men’s everyday lives. His talent for creating striking imagery and memorable scenes draws readers into his masterfully constructed world. Jawando treats his past self with compassion without ever skirting responsibility for his mistakes." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Jawando has written an enlightening, heartfelt memoir that will appeal to readers looking for a ‘different’ all-American story; one that shows the power of community to uplift Black men in the United States." —Leah K. Huey, Library Journal (starred review)

"Will Jawando's account of mentorship, service, and healing lays waste to the racist stereotype of the absent Black father. By arguing that Black fathers are not just found in individual families, but are indeed the treasure of entire Black communities, Will makes the case for a bold idea: that Black men can counter racist ideas and policies by virtue of their presence in the lives of Black boys and young men. This is a story we need to hear." —Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times–bestselling author of How to be an Antiracist

"Will Jawando’s book, My Seven Black Fathers, speaks urgently to the moment. In walking us through his recovery from the wounds of his own father loss, he speaks to our potential for healing as a people and to the incredible resources for becoming whole that are already contained within our communities. His book is the key to unlock that healing." —Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress

"There is nowhere near enough writing about the inner lives of Black folks. Will Jawando’s story is a necessary and important contribution to our understanding of Black men’s grief, pain, and fulfillment. The story of the men who stepped in and helped raise Will not only shows us how present and capable Black men can be and already are within the Black community, but also provides us with an emotional template for Black male interventions that matter, that change the lives of Black boys and young men." —Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times–bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop and What Truth Sounds Like

"Research tells us that Black boys who have access to Black fathers and mentors in their communities have a much better chance of navigating the world successfully and overcoming systemic racism to achieve their full potential. Will Jawando’s story poignantly demonstrates this point but also provides critical insight into the form and structure of these relationships, and the power they have to not only transform the lives of Black boys but to rebuild whole communities." —Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education

"With dignity, clarity, and compassion, Will Jawando takes readers on a tour of his past through the stories of seven men who mentored, protected, and loved him along the road to adulthood. Written in a voice that is simultaneously bright, sanguine, and affecting, My Seven Black Fathers is an inspiring personal narrative, but it is not an ordinary memoir. Instead, the book is a guidebook on the essential gift of mentorship and how staggeringly transformative it was in the life of one beautiful black boy. But most of all, My Seven Black Fathers is a praise song to the mysteries of human connection, and the resilience that is an inherent part of African American identity." —Emily Bernard, author of Black Is the Body

“[My Seven Black Fathers] oozes with gratitude and grace . . . Like any good storyteller, [Jawando] tells, then lets his tale linger, leaving an impression you'll come back to, time and again.” —Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Washington Informer

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2022

This memoir, by lawyer and city councilmember Jawando, is a study on the importance of strong Black male figures in the lives of Black children, particularly Black boys. Jawando is the son of a Nigerian-born father and a white mother from Kansas. Growing up in Maryland, he struggled with his biracial identity and racism, along with a strained relationship with his father after his parents' divorce. For Jawando, mentorship came in the forms of seven Black men he encountered in his community: his stepfather; a Nigerian computer whiz; a gay reporter; a teacher; a coach; a U.S. president; and, later, his birth father. In seven chapters, Jawando demonstrates how these men helped him reconcile his biracial identity and become the man he is today. VERDICT Jawando has written an enlightening, heartfelt memoir that will appeal to readers looking for a "different" all-American story; one that shows the power of community to uplift Black men in the United States.—Leah K. Huey

Library Journal

★ 2022-02-01
A biracial Nigerian American lawyer, community leader, and activist tells his life story through the lens of his most important relationships with other Black men.

Jawando, a council member in Montgomery County, Maryland, grew up in a neighborhood where a number of Black boys he knew were deeply affected by the violence of structural racism. The author believes that the reason he “became a statistic on the positive side of America’s skewed racial balance sheet” is because he had access to a group of Black male mentors who nurtured him when he needed it most. These influential figures included Jawando’s stepfather, who helped him cope with his distant, depressed biological father; his high school gospel choir director, who drove Jawando to college and housed him when he served as an AmeriCorps volunteer; and his mother’s gay Black colleague Jay (“the first openly gay person who I ever met”), who took him to art museums and plays and emphasized the importance of being his whole self. Throughout, the author’s stories and analysis serve as an homage to the importance of providing Black boys with Black male role models. “The multisystem disease [affecting society] is called racism,” he writes. “How you cure it in Black boys is with the presence of present, diverse Black men who are willing to step up and be mentors. To be ‘fathers.’ The rewards flow to us all.” While Jawando begins with the idea that systemic racism can be cured with personal responsibility, in the remainder of the text, he deftly uses his personal story to provide a trenchant structural analysis of how American racism plays out in Black men’s everyday lives. His talent for creating striking imagery and memorable scenes draws readers in to his masterfully constructed world. Jawando treats his past self with compassion without ever skirting responsibility for his mistakes.

A beautifully written and innovatively structured memoir of a biracial Black man’s life journey.

Kirkus Reviews