Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding, Paperback

A New York Times and Washington Post Bestseller

In this timely and important collection of personal essays, black men from all walks of life share their inspiring stories and ultimately how each, in his own way, became a source of hope for his community and country.

Reach includes forty first-person accounts from well-known men like the Rev. Al Sharpton, John Legend, Isiah Thomas, Bill T. Jones, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Talib Kweli, alongside influential community organizers, businessmen, religious leaders, philanthropists, and educators. These remarkable individuals are living proof that black men are as committed as ever to ensuring a better world for themselves and for others.

Powerful and indispensable to our ongoing cultural dialogue, Reach explodes myths about black men by providing rare, candid, and deeply personal insights into their lives. It's a blueprint for better community engagement. It's an essential resource for communities everywhere.

Proceeds from the sale of Reach will go to BMe Community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building caring and prosperous communities inspired by black men. Reach is also a Project of the Kapor Center for Social Impact, one of the founding supporters of President Obama's My Brother's Keeper initiative.

About the Author:

Ben Jealous is the former President and CEO of the NAACP and a renowned public figure with a broad national audience. He is also a partner at Kapor Capital, an Oakland-based firm that leverages the tech sector to create progressive social change. A Rhodes Scholar, Jealous has been on the "40 Under 40" lists of both Forbes and Time. In 2013 The Washington Post referred to him as "one of the nation's most prominent civil rights leaders."

Trabian Shorters is a social entrepreneur with over twenty years of experience in diverse fields including national service, technology, nonprofit, and philanthropy. An expert on using asset framing to address social problems, Trabian is best known for applying it to black male issues. In winter 2011, he launched BMe Community while serving as Vice President at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.