from the Black Youth Project
By Jonathan
This past week I read New Black Man, by Mark Anthony Neal. (Which is generally an awesome book). However, I do have my criticisms (as I usually do for almost everything). Mark Anthony Neal in New Black Man examines the contemporary paradigms of what it means to be black and masculine/male. He also positions these things in the greater context of black feminist thought, parenting as a father, and anti-homophobia (he does a great job doing this). He goes through moments in pop culture where we will find situations antithetical to what the New Black Man metaphor is moving towards. Neal goes further to explain that he has not achieved—at least not in totality—what New Black Man is arguing for.
“I am not the New Black Man, but rather the New Black Man is a metaphor for an imagined life—strong commitment to diversity in our communities, strong support for women and feminism, and strong faith in love and value of listening.” The themes in Neal’s book are difficult to argue against, mostly because of their positive nature and progressive peripheral. However, in the midst of a very solid overall argument, there are a couple themes that weakened Neal’s New Black Man Theory—for me at least. The most distracting to me being his continuous “disclaimer” of his own heterosexuality.
Read the Full Essay @ The Black Youth Project
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