Publishers Weekly
04/22/2019
In this passionate account, lawyer and activist Jivani lays out a vision for keeping young black and Muslim men from becoming radicalized by violent movements such as the Nation of Islam, ISIS, and the alt-right. For young men’s vulnerability to radicalization, Jivani blames a multigenerational cycle of fatherlessness, the sense of belonging offered by conflict-centered organizations that “focus on fear and vengeance,” the daily realities of systemic racism, and distrust of the police. He sees the antidote in local community groups aligned with social ideals, sharing lessons he learned while working with Newark’s Fathers Now, Brussels youth organizations JES and Association de Jeunes Morocains, and Ohio’s Community Action Agencies. He also recounts his own success story of growing up in a troubled home in an immigrant neighborhood in Ontario and experimenting with hip-hop culture and the Nation of Islam spin-off the Five Percenters, before eventually finding the “capacity to aspire” and becoming a Yale-educated lawyer. He argues for building allyship with the police, criticizes Black Lives Matter for ideological railroading, and sympathizes with those who feel implicated in the “whitelash” of anti-Trump narratives. Younger and more left-leaning readers won’t find Jivani’s outlook palatable, but it will resonate for readers with more traditional, centrist views. (May)
From the Publisher
"Powerful....Jivani shows us how young men are vulnerable to destructive ideas." —J.D. Vance, author of the No. 1 New York Times-bestselling Hillbilly Elegy
“Powerfully moving and refreshingly clear-eyed, Why Young Men is a brilliant exploration of race, class, hopelessness, and why all too many young men turn to radicalization and violence. This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about solving one of the most important problems of our day.” —Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Political Tribes
“A compelling case that radicalization grows out of marginalization…professor and activist Jivani offers a compassionate analysis of sidelined youth and does so with a special authority—because he was one.” —Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post
"Jivani compels us through the rare lens of lived experience, and he inspires us by immersing himself into a volatile environment to ask real questions and get real answers. More emphatically, he demands discourse as his convincing composition is richest in research. Riveting, courageous and analytically stimulating.” —Michael “Pinball” Clemons, CFL Hall of Fame player, philanthropist and author of All Heart
“Armed with his personal experience and cleared-eyed analysis, Jamil Jivani addresses a crucial question: why are so many young men prone to violence? Jivani astutely dissects the commonality of causation and searches out solutions. This book is a path forward for us all.” —Mark Sakamoto, author of Forgiveness
“A provocative and deeply personal response to the question he poses in the title. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, there’s no denying the vigour of his arguments and the passion in his heart.” —Kamal Al-Solaylee, author of Intolerable and Brown
"In this passionate account, lawyer and activist Jivani lays out a vision for keeping young black and Muslim men from becoming radicalized by violent movements such as the Nation of Islam, ISIS, and the alt-right." —Publishers Weekly Review
"Toronto-based lawyer and community organizer Jivani explores a widely considered yet vexing issue: the connections between movements, from white nationalism to radical fundamentalism, and a population of angry, hopeless men...An earnest and mostly engaging attempt at 'thinking about the diverse reasons for the destruction young men cause.'" —Kirkus Review
AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile
Jivani shares his experiences and observations after years of working with problematic and violent youth across the world—but it is JD Jackson’s narration, with his deep and raspy voice, that gives those insights much more gravitas than a reader might glean from the page. Using different examples of cases on which he worked, as well as those he witnessed from afar, Jivani shows how the absence of opportunity, cultural context, and alienation work to drive young men toward violence throughout the world. He also identifies useful ways to help them. Jackson is especially effective in capturing Jivani’s exasperation at the failure of U.S. culture, which too often slips into ideological standoffs between the left and the right, offering few solutions but plenty of finger-pointing. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-03-17
A personalized examination of efforts from Egypt to Europe to counter young men's drift toward violence.
In his debut, Toronto-based lawyer and community organizer Jivani explores a widely considered yet vexing issue: the connections between movements, from white nationalism to radical fundamentalism, and a population of angry, hopeless men. In the foreword, J.D. Vance summarizes the author's perspective as perceiving how "today's world throws more traps and temptations in front of young men than ever before with even fewer ladders out of the ditches they end up in." Organizationally, the book balances Jivani's background and experiences with consideration of these negative influences and the forces countering them. Growing up in a multiracial family haunted by his own father's gradual estrangement, Jivani recalls his own drift toward gangster fantasies: "We saw no distinction between us and the rappers we idolized." Later, at Yale, he observed New Haven's segregation, wondering how he fit into the then-prominent narrative of a "clash of civilizations." In violence-ridden Newark, the author first engaged with organizations that "offered an alternative moral code that encouraged young men to rise above their circumstances and be better than those around them." While monitoring law enforcement in Toronto, he developed a surprising relationship with a progressive deputy chief, defusing a legacy of racial mistrust: "We weren't speaking just as a citizen and a police officer. We were speaking as two activists." Jivani went on to teach law before moving on to Brussels to research radicalization following the 2015 Paris terror attack. He notes that immigrants subject to terrorist recruitment attribute this temptation to "rejection from mainstream society through unemployment and discrimination." Yet he also points out the prominence of "faithless radicals" among those attracted to terrorist groups, with "more of a background in criminal activity than religious observance." He also argues that the American "alt-right" is at least as dangerous and fueled by similar alienation.
An earnest and mostly engaging attempt at "thinking about the diverse reasons for the destruction young men cause."
