“Dear Black Boy” showcases the many events and problems that African American men face in American society. Tadean Page, Winthrop Alumni & Public Outreach and Community Coordinator, released this book on May 4.
Page said that he wanted focus on the issues that are not heavily discussed in society. The book talks about mental health, growing up without a father, losing someone close to you, having a child at an early age, experiencing jail and dealing with sexual identity.
Page is a speaker, author and philanthropist who graduated from Winthrop in May 2018. He said that he is able to use his platform to inform people on the things that black boys struggle with, because he said that these boys are often told to ignore their problems.
“[My goal was to] share these stories in hopes that a lot of other people will tell their story and let people know that their story has value, that it matters and that its okay to talk about it,” Page said.
He said that his inspiration came from working with black males and his passion for helping them overcome adversity.
“My long term goal is to start an academy for young black boys. I’m really passionate about the black boy experience and I think that there are a lot of unanswered questions within the black boy experience that nobody is trying to seek them out,” Page said.
Page shared the problems he has faced and said that understanding where the problems one faces come from and figuring out what caused them is necessary to growth.
Page said that this book should help everyone, including himself, figure out why African American boys behave in certain ways that, according to Page, society continues to question them on.
“No one’s processing the deeper level of that. My life’s work ties into that of bettering the black boys who misbehave. Part of that inspired me to write the book, because if they see a black boy on it, someone who looks like them, then they’re more likely to pick that book up than a huge Harry Potter book,” Page said.
Page said that he wanted people to receive this book as a gift and to realize the real issues associated with growing up as an African American male in society.
During the writing process, Page said that he used the go-with-the-flow mentality in order to provide the most genuine and influential story and book possible.
“I didn’t want to box myself in or box in my creativity, so I didn’t have a set time to write. I wanted it to be as natural as possible,” Page said.
While Page was writing the book, he was also still a senior at Winthrop, so he was working on his senior thesis and his book simultaneously. He was also conducting business as Winthrop’s CSL student body president.
He said that his dedication and determination to both graduating and finishing his book are what ensured that he would accomplish both of these goals.
