Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny

By Hill Harper

Every young man in his life seeks the guidance of someone who they believe they can model themselves after. Some young men look to their parents, some to their peers, and sometimes some sadly seek the comfort of gangs. Whether positive or negative all young men seek out a beacon to look towards to navigate their lives in this difficult world. In Letters to a Young Brother award winning actor and Harvard grad Hill Harper provides a much needed voice of guidance. The book lives up to its self-descriptive title, it follows Hill’s correspondence with an anonymous youth. He asks Hill’s opinion and advice on a number of tough topics. It is all too common for young black men to not have someone who is informed and wise to discuss topics like; sex, how to get girls, why college is important, debt, and realizing your dreams.

Hill is the ultimate big brother. When reading you get the sense that these letters came from a genuine place. He refers to the youth as his family and he lets him know early on that he wants nothing but the best for him. He stresses the importance of school and wanting something beyond what your parents had. Reading the letters you realize that the world is completely yours to tackle. If you want to become the next Donald Trump you can. The world is an abundant window of opportunities and all you have to do to open that window is work hard and believe that you will achieve your goals.

The young men in the African American community are often raised in a single parent home usually by their mother. These men never really know the wisdom a father can bestow. Hill Harper can never replace these young men’s absentee father but he does offer invaluable advice. Hill Harper is the push that many adolescence need. They need someone to tell them that the streets are not the road to travel, they need a figure to model themselves after, a man who can be strong enough to rule his life with undeniable confidence but compassionate enough to care for the well being of any stranger.

Hill provides positive reinforcement even when he doesn’t mean to. The manner in which he concludes each letter is incentive enough for any youth to strive for a life of “unreasonable happiness” (his repeated mantra), “Man, I gotta get to the set and shoot a scene for CSI:NY, so we’ll talk soon.” When someone is telling you about shooting scenes for a hit prime-time show like it is the most mundane thing it unconsciously makes you realize that an “unreasonably happy life” are really not that far from your grasp. Hill just wants young black men to realize their potential and gather up the courage to strive for what they want out of life. “THINK. ACT. BE.”