Chapter 8:
“At the Same Damn Time”: “Successful” and Socially Conscious
Pre-Reading Glossary
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Dismantle
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Modern-Day Abolitionist
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Black Manhood
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White Privilege
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Hyper-masculinity
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Thug
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Gangster
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Player
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One-dimensional caricature
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Resistance Movements
Essential Question
How can a small gathering of like-minded people be the catalyst for organizing and affecting greater change?
Comprehension Check
Question 1
Why did Mawuli gather a small group of Black men to speak with the young men from Rota, Spain?
Question 2
What criteria did Mawuli use in assembling this small group of Black men? Why?
Question 3
How did Let Us Make Man: The Gathering to Reclaim Black Manhood emerge from this small, powerful, and inspired gathering of men?
Question 4
Mawuli writes, “On that evening, a few of us were “dreaming secret dreams and seeing secret visions.” We couldn’t just go back to our lives and our work as if nothing had happened” Why couldn’t this circle of men go on existing the way they had before this night?
Question 5
How effectively have you been persuaded to believe that “ it is our responsibility to repay the masses with our commitment to our collective liberation.”? What does your commitment look like?
Question 6
What are the advantages and disadvantages of working within an organization to affect change?
Extension:
How effectively is the organization meeting its stated goals and objectives?
What can you contribute as part of a whole to improve the efficacy of the organization?