With only two days until Father’s Day, you’ve hopefully already gotten a gift for the worthy patriarch (or several) in your life — or have a last-minute shopping spree planned. But if you’ve been blessed with the guidance and love of a great father figure, there’s no need to wait for a holiday or birthday to celebrate him. Remind him of your love and appreciation this Father’s Day and for countless days to come with a book that celebrates the care, commitment and complexities of Black fatherhood. Not sure where to start? TheGrio has compiled seven suggestions below.
Dropping on Tuesday, June 20, superstar NBA point guard Chris Paul’s first memoir chronicles the formative relationship shared with his late grandfather, Nathaniel “Papa” Jones, and the values imparted by which continue to influence him today.
For those familiar with Paul’s origin story, his grandfather, an upstart entrepreneur and pillar of his Winston-Salem, North Carolina, community, was only 61 years old when he was murdered the day after the future NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Star MVP signed his letter of intent to play college basketball for Wake Forest. In tribute, the day after burying his grandfather, Paul deliberately shot a tremendous 61 points at his next high school basketball game. With “Sixty-One,” he continues Papa’s legacy in this poignant memoir of family, faith and fatherhood.
‘Above Ground‘ – Clint Smith (Little, Brown; 2023)
Clint Smith, the New York Times bestselling and National Book Critics Circle award-winning author of “How the Word Is Passed” returns to poetry with “Above Ground,” a “vibrant and compelling new collection [that] traverses the vast emotional terrain of fatherhood, and explores how becoming a parent has recalibrated his sense of the world.” A follow-up to “Counting Descent,” Smith’s first award-winning book of poetry, “Above…
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