White Bucks and Black-Eyed Peas : Coming Of Age Black In White America

Marcus Mabry examines Black success in America, working within and against a world of white privilege. Born and raised in an all-Black enclave in suburban New Jersey, Marcus Mabry suddenly found himself thrust into the white world at age fourteen when he won an academic scholarship to one of the nation's most prestigious prep schools. In examining the price of Black success in America, Mabry recalls what it was like being young, Black, and talented, searching for his own identity, as he teetered uncertainly between two universes: the despairing, impoverished tightly knit black community of his childhood and the white world of privilege and promise that beckoned. Exploring what it means to be "young, Black, and talented" in America—and the high cost of teetering precariously between two separate worlds—Mabry examines the twentysomething experience, and chronicles the rise of a young Black man—from his ghetto childhood through his Stanford education to his emergence as one of Newsweek 's bright, young stars. White Bucks and Black-Eyed Peas tells the story of being "young, black and talented" in America - a position of rich promise and poignant uncertainty. Marcus Mabry was born and raised in "White City," an all-black enclave in suburban Trenton, New Jersey, and a community of strongly knit families struggling with poverty and despair. At the age of fourteen, Marcus was suddenly thrust into the white world when he won an academic scholarship to Lawrenceville, one of the nation's most prestigious prep schools. As he excelled within Lawrenceville's ivy-clad halls, he grew painfully aware of the racial ignorance that shapes the lives of even the most well meaning people. Mabry's odyssey continued into his years at Stanford, where he became embroiled in the debate about political correctness, and then later at Newsweek, where as one of the very few minority journalists at a major newsmagazine he learned firsthand about the negative portrayals of African-Americans in the press.

Born and raised in an all-black enclave in suburban New Jersey, Marcus Mabry suddenly found himself thrust into the white world at age 14 when he won an academic scholarship to one of the nation’s most prestigious prep schools. In examining the price of black success in America, Mabry recalls what it was like being young, black, and talented, searching for his own identity, as he teetered uncertainly between two universes: the despairing, impoverished tightly knit black community of his childhood and the white world of privilege and promise that beckoned.

Exploring what it means to be "young, black and talented" in America--and the high cost of teetering precariously between two separate worlds--Mabry examines the twentysomething experience, and chronicles the rise of a young black man--from his ghetto childhood through his Stanford education to his emergence as one of Newsweek's bright, young stars.

Confronting the difficulties of a "minority within a minority," a successful young African American chronicles his experiences through a ghetto childhood, prep school, and Stanford University and reveals his precarious balancing act between white and African-American cultures. 35,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour. Mabry left Trenton, New Jersey for Lawrenceville, a prep school, then Stanford and finally a job at Newsweek