Howard University News February 21, 2018 HOWARD UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND AUTHOR TONY MEDINA PENS NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK, 'THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACK BOY' Howard University Professor and award-winning author Tony Medina, Ph.D., wants to help young black boys embrace their beauty through his new book, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy." The children's book is filled with messages to inspire wonder in young readers, including poetry written by Medina and illustrations from 13 artists, both male and female. "I wanted to create a Black Lives Matter book for young people without ever having to write the words, 'Black Lives Matter,' but to show the beauty, the three-dimensionality, interiority and the emotional lives of Black boys, who have been and continue to be so targeted and maligned in America," explains Medina. "I wanted to simply show Black boys the way we want them: alive and thriving and being and breathing." Medina hopes the book will counter the negative stereotypes and images that too often young black males are exposed to including the school to prison pipeline, police brutality and death. However, he acknowledges that anyone will be able to find inspiration in the book's message of affirmation. "This book is for everyone. It's particularly aimed at Black boys to affirm and confirm their beauty, but I think it's very universal," says Medina. "It's for anyone who is interested in the human condition. It's for girls, it's for other ethnicities. It's a special book." Medina's poetry is written in Tanka form, a Japanese, syllabic verse style. Each poem is brought to life on the page through powerful images of black boys as painted by renowned artists, including Floyd Cooper, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Skip Hill, Tiffany McKnight, Robert Liu-Trujillo, Keith Mallett, Shawn K. Alexander, Kesha Bruce, Brianna McCarthy, R. Gregory Christie, Ekua Holmes, Javaka Steptoe and Chandra Cox. Medina is the author of several books for young readers, including "I and I, Bob Marley;" and "I AM ALFONSO JONES," a graphic novel on the Black Lives Matter movement for youth ages 12 and up. He is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy" is published by Penny Candy Books and is available on Amazon and other book retailers. For more information, visit www.TonyMedina.org<http://www.tonymedina.org/>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/