Black Oak

Following Black Roses, his earlier collection honoring Black women, poet Harold Green III turns to the Black men he admires most. Green is also the founder of the music collective Flowers for the Living. The men he celebrates include trailblazers such as Tyler Perry, Barry Jenkins, Billy Porter, Chance the Rapper, LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and John Legend, whose work is changing lives and making history.

Green, a spoken word artist, was struck by the many ways Black men are using their vision and influence to reshape culture and society, and by how quickly this is happening. He began writing odes to recognize these accomplishments and shared them on his Instagram account, where they spread widely online. Black Oak gathers many of those popular poems together with new pieces written for the collection.

The book is organized into five sections: bravehearts, champions, dreamers, guardians, and humanitarians. Its subjects are leaders of movements, fighters for equality, people who challenge the status quo, fathers, and creators who inspire a new generation. Together they offer children a transformative picture of masculinity.

Green does not simply place these men on pedestals. He looks past even the most favorable stereotypes to see their achievements in a fresh light, linking these prominent figures to the lives of readers from every background. Full-color illustrations by Melissa Koby accompany the verses. The odes honor Barry Jenkins, Big K.R.I.T, Billy Porter, Black Thought, Chance the Rapper, Charles Booker, Colin Kaepernick, Dwyane Wade, Edmund Graham III, Eric Hale, Excell Hardy Jr., Harold Green III, Harold Green Jr., Harold Green Sr., Hebru Brantley, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Jamaal Bowman, Jason Reynolds, Jericho Brown, John Legend, Kehinde Wiley, Kerry James Marshall, Kevin Fredricks, Killer Mike, Kyler Broadus, LeBron James, Mahershala Ali, Marc Lamont Hill, Matthew Cherry, Orlando Cooper, Pharrell, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, Ryan Coogler, Swizz Beatz, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Theaster Gates, Tobe Nwigwe, Tristan Walker, and Tyler Perry.