Our Black sons matter: mothers talk about fears, sorrows, and hopes

Introduction: For the love of our sons / George Yancy

I. Reflections.

Black mother/sons / Sara Lomax-Reese

Once white in America / Jane Lazarre

A bottle of Mike Brown and Robin Williams / Shelly Bell

Dark radiance / Becky Thompson and LaMar Delandro

Why being the lone Black friend of whites will not protect you / Noliwe Rooks

The box / Tracey Reed Armant

White mama, Black sons / Heather Johnson

Watching and waiting / Nicole McJamerson

The trouble I've seen...and why it matters / Meta G. Carstarphen

Inside/outside / Susan Hadley

Black and blue : stressing through to dialogue / Deborah Binkley-Jackson

A Black Jewish boy facing manhood / Jane Anna Gordon

II. Essays.

Sacrificial lambs : how many dead bodies is enough? / Carol E. Henderson

Reflections of Black motherhood : birthing Black sons / Linda D. Tomlinson

The war within : respect and the predicament of mothering Black sons / Newtona (Tina) Johnson

A long ways from home? / Michele Moody-Adams

T.H.U.G. (talented, humanistic, unique, gifted) : anthropology, sentiments, and narratives of Black mothers and sons / Elisha Oliver

A fierce love : the unique process of nurturing, educating, and protecting our Black sons / Tracey McCants Lewis

Through the valley of the shadow of death / Veronica T. Watson

Mothers and their Black sons : struggling against fears, sorrows, and hope / Blanche Radford Curry

Regarding Henry / T. Denean Sharpley Whiting

III. Poems.

A love poem for Michael Brown / Elisheba Johnson

Lamentations from a Black mom / Dyan Watson

for trayvon / Treasure Shields Redmond

News of you, my son / Sharyn Skeeter

Death passes twice / Autumn Redcross

IV. Letters.

Dear William / Gretchen Givens Generett

A letter to CJ / Regina Sims Wright

Killing/saving/loving Black boys / Karsonya Wise Whitehead

Anger / Jacki Lynn Baynks

A letter to Dr. King : please keep breathing / Maria del Guadalupe Davidson

A letter to my sons / Dawn Herd-Clark.