The Real Lives of Strong Black Men: Releasing Pain, Reclaiming Love

In this powerful look at the black male psyche, Toby Thompkins interviews black men from all walks of life, encouraging them to share their stories, reveal the coping mechanisms they've employed to make it in a world that stereotypes them as enraged, stupid, hypersexual, and dangerous, and answer the question society asks them every day: what kind of black man are you? Thompkins explores the misguided constructs that inform black male identity in the United States, the pain they create in the lives of black men, and the journey that he and many of the men he interviewed have taken to bring intimacy, self-love, compassion, and serenity back into their lives. In doing so, Thompkins shows how black men can move beyond other Americans' perception of them and respond to the deeper calling of their souls.