We Real Cool

Are Black men cool, or are they despised? bell hooks' brilliant and controversial new book We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity goes beyond the usual analysis of the black male - difficult childhood, white racism, poverty - to ask questions which other books are unwilling to address. Without casting blame, hooks tells hard truths: black men are feared, admired, made the objects of sexual fantasy, and envied, but rarely loved. Black men are hated, and hooks tells us why.

In these critical essays, hooks examines what black males fear most (maternal sadism, loss, emasculation) and probes the depths of their longing for intimacy, for fathers, for meaningful relationships. Highlighting the value of a feminist approach to understanding black masculinity, hooks looks at the way patriarchal thought and action undermine black male self-esteem. With compassion and generosity, she contends that black men become loving individuals only as they accept full accountability for shaping their destiny.