Description:
There is no cavalry coming!
We are the iconic leaders we have been waiting for, curators of the change we're seeking to see.
I Too Am America examines the promise and peril of Black men and boys in America by exploring the lives of two talented young men, Jamare Winston in Detroit and Romero Wesson in Oakland, who at once embody all that we want our boys to be while also illuminating the many uncertainties they face. With the help of teachers and mentors, they have navigated their teen years in environments where nothing is guaranteed. Their stories mirror the trials facing Black men and boys across the nation.
Corporation for Black Male Achievement founder Shawn Dove had to navigate similarly treacherous waters decades ago as a Black boy in New York City. He was also a young man of many talents, trying to figure out what the world had to offer and his place in it. Part memoir, part exposé of the ways this country continues to forsake Black men and boys, part uplifting call to action, I Too Am America manages to elicit tears while also kindling hope.
I Too Am America: On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys, written by Shawn Dove and Nick Chiles, delivers timely insights and inspiration that humanizes the stories of Black men and boys while offering strategic recommendations on how together we can move from our current rumblings with a racial reckoning to loving, learning, and leading with and on behalf of Black men and boys.
Brief description:
Shawn Dove has more than three decades of cross-sector leadership in youth development, community-building, philanthropy, arts education, leadership development, and media literacy. He is the founder of the Corporation for Black Male Achievement. This consulting and publishing firm produces community-building engagements and multi-media stories of loving, learning, and leading by and for Black men and boys.
From 2008 to 2021, Dove led the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, a national intermediary membership organization committed to ensuring the growth, impact and sustainability of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes for Black men and boys.
He launched CBMA in 2008 at the Open Society Foundations, spinning off into an independent entity in 2015. Under Dove's leadership, CBMA leveraged more than $212 million in national and local funds to help catalyze a movement, connecting thousands of leaders and organizations working with and on behalf of Black men and boys.
During his career journey, he has served in leadership roles with the Harlem Children's Zone; The DOME Project; First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, NJ; the National Guild for Community Schools of the Arts; and MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. Shawn lives in New Jersey with his wife Desere and their four children, Nia, Maya, Cameron, and Caleb.
Review Quotes:
"Shawn graciously shares his lessons of leadership, love, and sacrifice...and we all should be truly grateful."
-- "Wes Moore, New York Times bestselling author"