Every African-American generation seems to have a “must read” piece of literature, something empowering, eye-opening and inspirational. For some it was the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X with Alex Haley, for others, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. From those pieces of literature we learned the truth about “our” story and when we finished reading we always made sure the book was passed down. The days of important and empowering literature seemed to be long gone until former NAACP President & CEO Ben Jealous and BMe head Trabian Shorters partnered up for their book, Reach : 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding.
Reach includes forty first-person accounts from well-known Black men like the Rev. Al Sharpton, John Legend, Isiah Thomas, Bill T. Jones, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Talib Kweli, alongside influential community organizers, businessmen, religious leaders, philanthropists, and educators. Reach also features a foreword by mogul, entrepreneur and author Russell Simmons.
Ben Jealous and Trabian Shorters present a combination of stories that fully represent the African-American culture. The book is actually inspired by the lack of stories that represent our culture in its entirety. Forty compelling gentlemen share the stories of their success, their values and provide deep, rare and candid insights into their lives. Reach’s inspiration can be best explained by a quote from Ben Jealous’ introduction to the book, “We cannot imitate that which we have never seen, heard, or read about.”
Reach has garnered a great response from political influencers, artists and media outlets. Many classify Reach as ground breaking, addictive, powerful and an important piece of literature that you must indulge in. Proceeds from the sale of Reach will go to BMe Community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building caring and prosperous communities inspired by Black men. Reach is also a Project of the Kapor Center for Social Impact, one of the founding supporters of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative.
Reach 40 Black Men Speak On Living, Leading and Succeeding is out now. You can pick up your copy of Reach at all major bookstores across the country as well on Amazon, the Google Play store and iTunes.
To keep up to date with the editors of Reach you can follow Ben Jealous on Twitter: @BenJealous and you can find out more about Trabian Shorters here: www.bmecommunity.org