Read the Introduction to the 10th Anniversary Edition of “Letters to Young Black Men”

Allow me to share a secret about how God led me to write Letters to Young Black Men. By the grace of God, Letters to Young Black Men was officially published ten years ago to wide acclaim, and has been named an Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com perennial, national bestseller.

The first thing you may not know is that I started writing this book when I was in my twenties. I know it sounds as if it was written by an older man to younger men or like a father writing to a son. However, it was written by a young black man who had experienced and was experiencing many of the things young black men have to deal with in this great country called America.

You may ask, “How did you pull that off?” Well, in truth, I didn’t pull anything off. It may sound a bit sanctimonious, but God deserves all of the credit for the writing and publication of this book. He gave me the wisdom, knowledge, and insight to give the book that older-man-to-younger-man vibe. All of the glory belongs to Him, and I really mean that. In our modern society, many people like to delete God from the equation. But I can tell you from personal experience that God has all power in His hands and He can take a young man, make him sound like an older man, fill him with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and help him write a book to change the lives of thousands of young black men across the country.

I am thankful to God for blessing Letters to Young Black Men in the miraculous way that He has over the past ten years. My heart is still amazed by the many mothers, fathers, grandparents, teachers, small group leaders, pastors, young men, and others who wrote encouraging messages, thanking me for the book, as well as by the invitations I received to speak at various organizations and meetings. What I am most blessed by, however, is the many young black men who have listed Letters to Young Black Men as their favorite book on Facebook and other social media sites over the past decade.

Further, I am especially pleased that my sons, Daniel D.P. Whyte IV and Danyel Ezekiel Whyte, who were brought up under the sound principles contained in this book and who are also writers with published works in their own right, have chosen to write the foreword for this tenth anniversary edition. The principles of this book have provided structure, discipline, and tough love not only to other young black men, but to my sons as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t have this kind of instruction while growing up. Ironically, it is that lack of structure, discipline, and tough love from my own father that produced this perennial, national bestseller.

I am thankful to God for the enormous impact this book has had over the past ten years and the souls that have been saved and the lives that have been changed by it. However, as you know, the work is not done. Take a look at the news on any given day and you will see that there are many more young black men who need to hear the message contained in this book so their lives can be saved and put on the path to fulfillment and success for the glory of God.

Purchase Letters to Young Black Men on Amazon.com or Amazon Kindle.