America Made Me a Black Man

A Memoir

By: Boyah J. Farah

Narrated by: Preston Butler III

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

NAACP Image Award Nominee · NPR Best Book of 2022

A searing memoir of American racism from a Somalian-American who survived hardships in his birth country only to experience firsthand the dehumanization of Blacks in his adopted land, the United States.

“No one told me about America.”

Born in Somalia and raised in a valley among nomads, Boyah Farah grew up with a code of male bravado that helped him survive deprivation, disease, and civil war. Arriving in America, he believed that the code that had saved him would help him succeed in this new country. But instead of safety and freedom, Boyah found systemic racism, police brutality, and intense prejudice in all areas of life, including the workplace. He learned firsthand not only what it meant to be an African in America, but what it means to be African American. The code of masculinity that shaped generations of men in his family could not prepare Farah for the painful realities of life in the United States.

Lyrical yet unsparing, America Made Me a Black Man is the first book-length examination of American racism from an African outsider’s perspective. With a singular poetic voice brimming with imagery, Boyah challenges us to face difficult truths about the destructive forces that threaten Black lives and attempts to heal a fracture in Black men’s identity.

©2021 Boyah J. Farah (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

POWERFUL, INSIGHTFUL, THE TRUTH

This book held my attention from the first word till the last. As an African (American) I can truly relate to Boyah's challenges. America, "land of the free..."? I beg ti differ. Not for Africans.

Detailed and written beautifully

I enjoyed listening to this book. I love how Boyah details every scene! It makes one experience every word. Boyah has been through a great deal of tragedies yet America takes him through a different kind of roller coaster. Enjoyed it greatly. I can’t wait to receive the hard copy so i can read it again.

Excellent, Eye Opening, Sobering

This story should be required reading for all American Black Men, young and old! I saw America for the first time.

Learned a lot

The accounts of Boyah's experience in America were told in a very engaging story from his childhood until now.

The audible file needs to be reviewed and edited because some reading mistakes and background noise was left in the finished product resulting in some pretty jarring disruptions.

Thank you

Thank you for letting your story shine through the pages of your book. I too am an African American and have endured my own struggles. Your words are like headlights on a dark rainy night illuminating the puddles from the t/y-ears of pain that we've all experienced in this America. Your voice is heard, and the light that you have signed will be returned. Thank you

Great perspective.

Should be a must read for those wanting to understand a unique and often unheard perspective on being Black in the US

Who edited the audio?

Im sure this is a great story however, trying to get though some missed audio corrections without deleting the edited content makes this audio book a bit frustrating to get through at times.