Father to Son

Revised edition (May, 2021), seasoned and spiced with a deep gumbo pot of new stories.

Father to Son: Ode to Our Black Young is a spoken word celebration and drum call to duty. A blazing testimony to the phenomenal journey of African American and African Diaspora people. In the title poem, a dying father's inspired and hopeful last conversation with his 17-year-old son serves as the opening context for this uplifting, ancestral, powerful narrative. Jaiya John's compassionate, hopeful voice weaves a rich Kente cloth tapestry of Love, celebration, challenge, and honor.

Father to Son, with its rich rhythmic wordplay, flavored with a gumbo recipe for self-Love, frames the journey of Black boys into manhood and personhood, and African Diaspora people into healing and soulful freedom. Here is a role call for the spirit warrior in us who wants our families to be whole. Come beat the drum.

Father to Son is a generational resource for young people, families, parents and caregivers, leaders, youth programs, agencies, schools, libraries, places of worship, sororities and fraternities, and community initiatives. Among many social issues, the book addresses the following: parenting, fatherhood, womanhood, family and community, Love relationships, education and empowerment, history and heritage, ancestry, positive identity and self-Love, leadership and role modeling, spirituality and sacredness, healing from trauma, anger and violence, racism and sexism, stigma and prejudice, purpose and giftedness, the power of creativity and self-expression, dehumanization and oppression, rehumanization, resilience, holistic wellbeing, and rites of passage.