Am I My Brother’s Mentor?

The Need For Male Role Models

The Lack of Expectations

My teenage years were devoid of male role models. My parents split up permanently when I was about 10. I only had sporadic contact with my father after that, and I had no brothers. Most of my cousins who lived near me were female, and all my uncles except one were living in other parts of the country.

I was a boy in a woman’s world.

My mother, grandmother, older female cousins, and aunts taught me everything they knew through their eyes as Southern black…