New Faculty Book: A Gift Grows in the Ghetto

Oct 24, 2022

A gift grows in the ghetto : reimagining the spiritual lives of Black men by Jay-Paul Hinds has been cataloged – BL625.2 .H56 2022 – and added to the collection.

Summary from the publisher: "In his classic essay Of Our Spiritual Strivings, W. E. B. Du Bois asks, how does it feel to be a problem? This question has become a means of diagnosing the lived experience of Black men, particularly in America's most neglected and feared environment: the ghetto. What is often overlooked, however, is the vital role that spirituality has in remedying the problem. A Gift Grows in the Ghetto examines how not being in relationship with one's gift can lead to feelings of despair, entrapment, and abandonment, all of which contribute to Black men feeling as though they are nothing more than a problem.

By utilizing the biblical story of Ishmael's miraculous survival, growth, and giftedness in the wilderness, the book encourages Black men to embrace a life of faith that is dependent on the God who always sees, nurtures, and is in relationship with us and our gifts in the wilderness and the ghetto."

Image description: Photo of the book with the atrium of the library in the background