The founders and organizers Boys Write Now and Girls On Fire (Peggy Savage) are proud to launch a "Black Men Read" Book Group.

This book group targets black men for the purpose of highlighting and modeling the love of reading by black men.

The group expects to attract 15 participants, but will limit the group to 25 attendees. We plan to attract teen and diverse a range of readers to ensure intergenerational discourse and lively conversations.

This "Black Men Read" Book Group will meet up twice, once in Mid August and Mid September. Depending on the interest and demand other meet-ups may be planned.

Forty Million Dollar Slaves, The Rise and Redemption of the Black Athlete, by William Rhoden is Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's weaves a compelling narrative of black athletes in the United States, from the plantation to their beginnings in nineteenth-century boxing rings to the history-making accomplishments... . Rhoden reveals that black athletes' "evolution" has merely been a journey from literal plantations--where sports were introduced as diversions to quell revolutionary stirrings--to today's figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs. (mediaondemand)

There are a couple of ways for you to get a copy of the book:

Contact the Free Library of Philadelphia Wynnefield Branch 5325 Overbrook Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131 to reserve a library copy (215) 685-0298. (Please note there are limited copies available).

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book consider visiting or calling Uncle Bobbies Books and Coffee located in Germantown- 5445 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia (215) 403-7058.

School Aged teenagers who register in advance will receive a free copy of the book.