To cut dead means to refuse to acknowledge another with the
intent to punish. Gregory Ellison says that this is the plight of
African American young men. They are stigmatized with limited
opportunity for education and disproportionate incarceration. At
the same time, they are often resistant to help from social
institutions including the church. They are mute and invisible to
society but also in their inward being. Their voice and physical
selves are not acknowledged, leaving them ripe for hopelessness and
volatility. So if the need is so great yet the desire for help
wanes, where is the remedy?
Healing can begin by reframing the problem. While to cut dead is
destructive, it also refers to pruning and repotting a disfigured
plant—giving it new possibilities for life. In this
provocative book, Ellison shows how caregivers can sow seeds of
life, and nurture with guidance, admonition, training, and
support in order to help create a community of reliable others,
serving as an extended family.
There is hope beyond the “strange and bitter cup” of African American manhood.