© Janus Adams LLC 2024
Music heard on this week's show:
At a time when one-in-three Americans (more than two-in-three African Americans) are raised without a father, MaryAnne Howland wants more for her son than a statistic. She wants him to benefit from men who would relate to him in ways that she, as a woman, could not. For his transition from boyhood to manhood, she invites four men to mentor him. For his thirteenth birthday celebration, she creates a rite-of-passage she calls a “Black Mitzvah.” Now, years later, her son has grown to be a thoughtful, mature young man; his mentors have become his “collective dad”; their story has become a book; and the book is becoming a movement!
You don't have to be a father to be a dad. And you don't have to be a boy or Black to need (and appreciate) a Black Mitzvah.
Our guest today on THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW, MaryAnne Howland: mother of Max, founder of Ibis Communications, author of the book, “WARRIOR RISING, creator of BlackMitzvah.org.
UPDATE
Since this show first aired, Howland’s son has published a book of his own, “The Art World of Max Zolo.” An Anime scholar, and admirer of the Japanese expression “wabi sabi" (the acceptance of transience and imperfection), Zolo is a gifted storyteller and character-developer. In sketches and text, he delivers a rich self-portrait of his life as an artist with “different abilities” born of cerebral palsy and ADHD. An inspiration to others with his talents, he redefines ability and possibility in a society obsessed with ableism.
LINKS
Hear the show streamed live Saturdays at 12:00 pm on WJFF Radio Catskill. Subscribe to our podcast (uploaded every Monday) and listen to past shows on SoundCloud.
TAGS:
African American, Racism, Locs, Boys, Manhood, BlackMitzvah, Ibis, MaryAnne Howland, Nashville, Women, WJFF, COVID19, George Floyd, Police Brutality, Police Reform, NPR,
Mentioned on this week's show:
MARYANNE HOWLAND, author, WARRIOR RISING:
How Four Men Helped a Boy on His Journey to Manhood
Listen to the full show (uploaded Mondays):