When we are born we are automatically placed into a box, a hierarchy, a place where we belong or are
expected to belong. Our gender and skin color determine where society wants us to belong. Our
identity markers decide whether we are privileged or unprivileged and how big our chances of
reaching our goals and getting to the top are. Even though our identity markers are completely out of
our control they determine what is expected for our future.
The writer of the memoir Mye Seven Black Father: A Young Activist’s Memoir of Race, Family and
the Mentors Who Made Him Whole is Will Jawando. Jawando is an attorney, politician and activist.
The title is a reference to his ethnicity. Early in the memoir we learn that his mother is white and his
father is Nigerian, which makes him reliable when it comes to speaking about the thoughts, feelings
and experiences that black and mixed people are likely to have.
The “fathers” mentioned in the title are not just literal fathers and family, but also the mentors who
contributed to shaping Jawando to the adult he is today. One of these mentors being Kalfani. As a
young boy Jawando watched Kalfani playing basketball and he also started to copy his behavior.
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