Beautiful memoir from a black man being vulnerable and sharing with us his story and the men who stepped up in his life as a father figure

Refreshing read

4.5/5

Thanks for the ARC

Will Jawando is one of my local elected officials; I enjoyed getting this insight into his personal life and political trajectory. It is a poignant and touching look at Black fatherhood in many different forms. Definitely recommended!

Will Jawando’s life memoir serves not only as a historical chronological recount of his past from an inner city young black male to civic leader, husband, and father but also a call-to-action of black men community to uplift, educate, and mentor the next generation of young black males.

The duality of the messaging compels us to take an in-depth examination of the influence of the world around our young people and reflect within ourselves on how we can do more and be better.

This book reveals the dire importance of the village rising a child, and how vital it can be for a small act of intentional presence in the lives of our children.

Entwined into these pages is birthed a riveting tale of Will’s journey of finding himself and his purpose paired with lessons from his seven black fathers and how understanding his personal facets helped mold him into the well-rounded family and community-focused individual he is.

A must read that will emphatically inspire and motivate self-reflection and action. Excellent storytelling. Excellent read. Excellent book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Wonderful book about the need for father figures and if you biological father doesn’t fill that other men like you can. While Yemi’s Nigerian father was always aloof so others filled that spot; his step dad, his Mom’s Nigerian work mate, senator Barrack Obama, Yemeni is biracial and so has never felt totally black but definitely not white. These men help Yemi feel a part of something which is very important for anyone. We each have a need for belonging.
Thank you NetGalley and Farrer, Strauss, Giroux for an ARC. Wonderful book about out places and understanding that sometimes that the past experiences can sometimes cause you to not be as open as you would normally be.
#Netgalley #Farrer, Strauss and Giroux

Jawando is a local author for my library, so I was interested before getting into the actual narrative of this book, but it deserves all of the accolades it's gotten so far. This is a love letter to mentorship, and Jawando beautifully details the important father and father-adjacent figures in his life with care, sensitivity, and stark introspection. This is a wonderful addition to any public library.

Wonderful book about Black male role models in this author's life. The author does a great job of sharing each role model's life story while also sharing what he learned from each man. I really liked how each of these men and what he learned from them brought him closer to his own father and helped him understand and empathize him more.

This book was wonderfully complex and it took me two reads to give it a true, full review because the men in Jawando's life were similarly complex. Thank you, NetGalley, for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jawando is a civil rights attorney, former member of Obama's administration and councilman, which means his perspective is a specific one -- but It's applicable to many growing up without a father, with or without the stereotype of that being "normal" within their culture as it is for Black America. I appreciated the lens through with Jawando looked at the men who became his surrogate father, and the lives they each represented within his own live. The story I found most poignant was Kalfani, a role model to him and then subsequently another familiar statistic of Black America as a victim of gun violence. I think Mr. Fletcher taught him the different meanings of role model and put him on his political path, even if he was more of a cultural lens.

I will read this again and probably have another takeaway from it.

In this touching memoir by Will Jawando - Yemi being his African name - he was determined to become a statistic on the positive side of America’s skewed racial balance sheet. Facts prove that racism is a multi-system disease and there might not be a cure. The author, in this self-narrated audiobook discusses seven men who made a huge impact on his life. Some of these men include his stepfather, Joseph Jacob, Mr. Williams, his math teacher, Barack Obama and others.

Race and family in America take on new meaning in this introspective book from a man who took on a role in the political world. Throughout his journey, Mr. Jawando illustrates how these men all played pivotal roles in his life. Also, he also sought out his African roots, and that helped to further mold him. His eventual reconciliation with his biological father was something that helped him tremendously.

Although this book is written strictly from the author's perspective, his strong statements about the issue of racism really hit home for me. One such quote that really resonated with me is "enthusiasm, eagerness, and a desire to be acknowledged for something positive--all qualities that were encouraged and rewarded in my white peers while they were discouraged and penalized in me." This is Will Jawando's personal experience. This is my personal experience as well. He also showed how we often internalize injustice and unfair treatment because "repetitive chastisement narrows us".

This book was captivating and uplifting and will be with me for a long time. I hope this author writes more books like this because change is needed in today's world.

Many thanks to Ferrar, Straus and Giroux and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/zvzbNrKezrQ

Reading this book is like getting lost in a hug. Will Jawando pulled me into his childhood, I felt like I was growing up with him and the fathers who shaped his sense of self and sense of the world. Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an early chance at reading for an honest review.

Moving and articulate description of the seven black men who most influenced the author. He is matter of fact about the ever-present racism which also shaped his coming of age, which highlights the waste and insanity of bigotry.

He is particularly empathetic in talking about his birth father, a Nigerian who left a successful family to seek a college degree and life in the U.S. Ultimately his father was disappointed by limited opportunity. Jawando communicates the pain of his absentee relationship with his father with a poignantly described understanding of the heartaches of his father's life. The parallels between his life as the son of a Black African father and White Midwestern mother and Barack Obama's is particularly interesting.

The fact that he has chosen a political career is encouraging, for he is a good man, and a thoughful one. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Title: My Seven Black Fathers
Author: Will Jawando
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"My Seven Black Fathers" by Will Jawando

My Assessment:

'My Seven Black Fathers' was wonderfully written by 'author, civil rights attorney, and Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando.' We find how these black men stepped up to the plate and were there for Will when his Nigerian biological father had failed in being around. Will had a caucasian mother from Kansas and a Nigerian father.

It was an excellent ride as this group of men stepped up from a 'stepfather, a coach, a gay man, a pastor, a Nigerian entrepreneur, and the former President Barack Obama'...all of these men were there for Will when he needed someone. And by the end, it seems like his father, who had been so isolated from his American struggle, finally came around.

Pick up this read that was so well-written where you will get some humor, good descriptions, and even some agony in what was going on at that time... in the life of Wiliam Opeyemi Taofik Alabi Jawando.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the ARC read and my leaving my opinion of the read.

This is a poignant story of finding oneself. The author explains how how he was able to find his identity as a black man in today’s America. He talks about the the people and incidents that have had both good and bad influences on his life.

A very thoughtful book showcasing how influential "grown-ups" can be on a young man's life. Will does a great job of layering in the overall story of his relationship with his own biological father, and how each of his relationships with the other father figures influenced his life and how he saw his own father. Will is vulnerable throughout which made connecting to his character and understanding his motivations easy and enjoyable. I'd recommend!

Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando’s memoir of growing up with an absent Black Nigerian father and a white mother is well-written, measured and thoughtful, with constant fresh insights along the way. I loved the overall theme of the book — rather than considering himself a boy raised without a father, he considers himself as having seven fathers — Black men who took the time to teach him how to be a man by mentoring him, serving as role models, and generally giving him the love, attention, and advice he needed. Eventually, this even led to a loving reconciliation with his biological father.

He honestly made me see mentoring in a new light — how mentoring can literally help someone by exposing them to aspects of life that many of us take for granted. How else can a fatherless boy learn to be a man (or a motherless girl learn to be a woman, or an immigrant learn how to be a citizen of a new country, etc.). I’ve read a number of books recently about children growing up in some of the more gang ridden areas of the country, with very few fathers present. Why wouldn’t they grow up modeling on the adult men available to them — gang members?

Jawando speaks intelligently about issues — not in slogans — and while racism is a factor in the story, it is just one factor of his experience, not the lens through which the whole story is filtered. He did occasionally make unsubstantiated generalizations based on his interpretation of personal experiences, but not very often, and more often referenced studies showing the broader sociological impact of various things he personally saw or experienced on a personal scale.

It would be hard not to immediately think of Obama’s first book — Dreams from My Father — while reading this. There are many parallels between them (both had African fathers, white mothers from Kansas, and wives named Michel(l)e and in fact, Obama is one of Jawando’s “fathers” based on the time Jawando worked on his staff.

Interesting, inspiring, accessible, and with real depth — definitely worth reading.

My Seven Black Fathers tenderly addresses the power of mentors and extended family members have to heal the pain of feeling unmoored and guiding a floundering youth to productive and empathetic adulthood. It unflinchingly addresses the challenges and emotional pain of feeling ‘other’ and learning to integrate productively while growing up, standing up for yourself and your beliefs in the face of opposition, and overcoming obstacles. It is a paean of praise for men who stand up and give of themselves to unrelated youth for no better reason than that they are present and able to do so. Inspirational.

My Seven Black Fathers by Will Jawando

Author, civil rights attorney and Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando, eloquently relates his life’s journey by describing Black mentors in his life. Starting as a young boy neglected by his Nigerian biological father, Will transitions through life with the help of other Black men who are there for him at every milestone.

It’s an uplifting tale which grabs you at the get-go. Some stories will have you near tears as Will (who sometimes goes by his African name Yemi) is harshly mistreated by those sworn to nurture him- Catholic nuns in particular. He names names and mentions those, one basketball coach in particular, who fail him.

Will grows despite hardships and set backs as a Black male in a racially imbalanced society. Black men step in where his father failed, but that void needs to be filled also. As Will pursues his Nigerian heritage, he comes full circle to a fulfilling life.

My sincere thanks to #NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for my ARC.

This compilation of tributes to men in Jawando's life winds its way back to his, often absent, biological father, offering a poignant resolution and reunion. Jawando writes that the effects this diverse group of men had upon his own manhood varied in length of time, not always being more than a school year. His lyrical prose sparkles with humor, vivid description, and, sometimes, pain. We lucky readers will, without doubt, be hearing more from Will Jawando!

My Seven Black Fathers is a memoir written by a young African American aspiring politician. With a Caucasian midwestern mother and a Nigerian father, he faces the identity challenges increasingly common in current U.S. culture. In the course of his life, his character is developed and strengthened by a series of mentors including a stepfather, a coach, a strong gay man, a pastor, a Nigerian entrepreneur, former President Barack Obama, and finally his own father who has been embittered and isolated by his American experience. The book is warm and perceptive without skirting the societal problems we face in this place and time. Definitely a worthwhile read.