We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity

by bell hooks

Book Overview

"When women get together and talk about men, the news is almost always bad news," writes bell hooks. "If the topic gets specific and the focus is on black men, the news is even worse."

In this powerful new book, bell hooks arrests our attention from the first page. Her title--We Real Cool; her subject--the way in which both white society and weak black leaders are failing black men and youth. Her subject is taboo: "this is a culture that does...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415969271
• ISBN13: 9780415969277
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A strong insight

As a black woman I enjoyed reading this insight into how people see black men and how they see themselves. There are not enough positive role models in the form of Black fathers for young black men to look up to. There can be a very strong critical element in Black families that could sometimes make me cringe as a child growing up. You felt as if you constantly had to explain yourself and be walking on egg shells with not a positive encouraging comment in sight. My Step-father was very negative and never really showed much consistent interest about anything you were interested in or wanted to achieve. Thinking of umpteen reasons why it could go wrong or couldn't be done. Not a very tactile or loving man either. Always busy being a workaholic and casting a very controlling element over the whole family. This made you feel as if you were worth nothing and could achieve nothing. These days I do hate to see this rap culture of Baseball caps turned backwards and this loping walk that looks like they've got a limp. Or the worst thing I hate to see is tracksuit bottoms pulled down so that you can see their underwear!! I find this sloppy and despicable and close to indecent exposure. Also you can walk past another black person and not even recognition in the form of a smile or friendly hello. This is very bad, so I recently made the decision to make the effort to make eye contact and smile or say hello. It's up to black people to read more about their own history and culture. We should know all the black inventors and people who played their important parts in history. We should know the names of the African Peoples and the areas on the map of Africa that they occupied. We should know African and Jamaican proverbs and stories etc. Not the latest rap artist with their explicit lyrics and the track they've recently cut!! We should also know the ins and outs of Slavery. I don't care if no other race recognises us as important in the present tense or for what our ancestors have been through. Quite frankly what's new? It's for us to recognise and bring to memory. Black children, both male and female need more positive role models within their own families. Black parents and relatives need to stop being so apathetic in teaching black children about their culture and backgrounds. Charity begins at home and not just in the form of good manners.

interesting

This book was very enlightening for me as I always wondered how and why African African men seem to be so shackled down especially under a system that is keen to so so. It definitely helped to read Hook's view as someone who had an emotionally distant father and as an African American woman who yearns to see Af Am males succeed. It is debatable as to whether her endless quotations from other books watered down her analysis but for me it helped because I did not know some of the authors and their viewpoints.

Great Analysis of Black men!

I have never reviewed online, despite my interest in Afro-American related books. However, I could not pass up an opportunity to encourage someone to purchase this book! I borrowed it from the library in an attempt to discover books which would be a potential addition to my own private library. Ms. Hooks addresses the complex things in a simple manner. This book was not seasoned with opinion; rather, it was highly dominated with factual evidence. It was thoroughly and well done; I commend her highly for her work. As a high school student, it opened my own mind about issues I'd never seen and things that I hadn't ever addressed and just didn't want to see. She even acknowledged the ongoing power struggle between the modern Black woman and man. She also cites many other books which I have interest in reading. Since reading this book, I want to own her entire catalog of books now! God bless you, Ms. Hooks!

An insightful and thought-provoking piece of work

This was the first time I came across any of Dr. hooks' work, and I was very impressed. I appreciated that she went and did her research before she wrote about something as sensitive about black men and our masculinity. She had a very tough, but thoughtful critique of why black men are suffering today. Some may not agree with her thoughts, possible solutions, and such, but for me, I'm definitely feelin' her. The only thing which did upset me was the amount of typos in the book, but that is due to poor editing and not the content of what hooks brought. Everyone, from black men to black women and on down has to come to the realization that some sort of self-analysis needs to be done in order to be completely whole. She's done it, and still does so. Kevin Powell (who she mentions in her book) wrote a series of essays which he admitted wrongdoings in the past, and he's on his way to self-discovery and self-fulfillment. I feel like I am on that same road they have traveled of finding myself, loving myself, being honest and true with myself first, and it has led to a certain type of freedom in me I had not experienced before. Once other brothers (and sisters) realize a lot of what she said is true and needs to be addressed, we will all be better off collectively.

brilliant...

bell hooks does it again. She demonstrates her love of humanity and her community with this gift to Black men. As a man of color, I see how patriarchal notions of white malehood have destroyed this planet and our communities. I hope my brothers of all races heed bell's warnings and embrace feminism.