Description
Daniel Whyte III never intended to write a book to young black women. He believes, according to the Scriptures, that the older women should teach the younger women. However, after
Letters to Young Black Men: Advice & Encouragement for a Difficult Journey became a bestselling book, readers requested that Whyte write a book for young black women as well. He prayed about it, and was led to do so. Regarding the purpose of this book, Whyte states:
This book is more about prevention than it is about healing. There are many other great men and women of God who are doing great work in the healing and restoration department for young black women. I believe that many of the problems that young black women are dealing with today can be prevented from happening in the first place. I also believe that in order for young women to be victorious in this life, they must operate from a position of strength and power. This book will empower them to win against their enemies: the devil, sorry men, and even themselves. I hope that they will read it and never live a defeated life again.
Daniel Whyte III writes a heartfelt book to his daughters and to other young black women, on the various issues of life that they face today. Whyte actually commenced the writing of this book from his hospital bed during a routine stay for chest pains. Symbolically, if Daniel Whyte III were on his deathbed, the words contained in this book are those that he would say to his six daughters. Written just for the young black woman in your life, whether you are a father, mother, grandparent, or Sunday school teacher, Letters to Young Black Women is overflowing with loving, fatherly, “advice and encouragement for a difficult journey.”
CHAPTER: Letters to Young Black Women
INTRODUCTION
“The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.” —Mary McLeod Bethune
I am forever amazed at the broad shoulders of black women, and how God has used them down through the years in this country and beyond, to not only help the black community stay together, but to move us forward as a race — yea, indeed, to even help hold America together, and to move her forward as well. I think about the courage of Harriett Tubman, Ida B. Wells, and Sojourner Truth. I also think about the class, dignity, and toughness of Coretta Scott-King, Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height. I am afraid, however, that these women had something that many of our young black women today simply do not have. I am very concerned for our young black women. In light of the quote above by Mary McLeod Bethune, “The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood,” many of our young women today are not expressing the character and the classthat the black women of old showed. Many of them have dropped the standards of the past. I remember even when I was a child back in the sixties and seventies, when the young ladies where admonished by the grandmothers, mothers, and aunts to “stop being so fast”: a clear warning that meant to stop carrying yourself like a loose girl. It meant to stop running after boys and to carry yourself like a lady. Well, I haven’t heard that phrase in a long time, and unfortunately, it is showing. Consider with me some horrifying statistics regarding our young women today:
-The African-American teen birth rate remains at 85.3 births per 1,000 women.
-The pregnancy rate of young black women 15-19 years old is twice that of whites.
-The average number of abortions performed on black women every day in the United States is 1,500.
-41,743 African-American women are in prison; 95,308 are on probation; 23,916 are on parole; 2,962 are in jail; and 81,996 are ex-felons.
-The school dropout rate for African American women is 11%.
Besides the painful facts above, what troubles me the most is that more young black women today are allowing themselves to be used, mistreated, and hurt by unscrupulous men who do not care anything for them, and who do not even have the capacity to treat them with love and respect. And what happens is that moral failures that are pleasurable and seem small while doing them, end up impacting the rest of their lives with devastating consequences. I believe this lack of self-respect is what breeds the horrifying statistics above.
This book is more about prevention than it is about healing. There are many other great men and women of God who are doing great work in the healing and restoration department for young black women. (We mention some of these individuals and ministries on our “Motherboard” in the back of the book.) I believe that many of the problems that you, as young black women are dealing with today can be prevented from happening in the first place. I also believe that in order for you to be victorious in this life, you must operate from a position of strength and power based upon the Word of God. This book will empower you to win against your enemies: the devil, sorry men, and even yourself. I hope that you will read it and never live a defeated life again. If Black America is to survive and thrive, not only do our young black men need to rise, but our young black women need to rise again.
—Daniel Whyte III
Irving, Texas
TOC: Introduction
PART I: On Your Life — Spiritual
1. From My Heart
2. Let God Touch You
3. Let God Hear from You
4. Let God Talk to You
5. Let God Love You
6. Let God Be Your All in All
7. Let God Make You a Woman of Faith
8. Let God Make You Beautiful from the Inside Out
9. Let God Control You
10. Let God Encourage You
11. Let God Bless and Make You a Success
PART II: On Your Life — Educational
12. On the Importance of Your Early Education
13. On Setting Educational Goals
14. Get Your Doctorate Degree before Marriage
15. The Marks of a Truly Educated Woman
16. The Power of Reading
17. Strive to Know What You Want to Do with Your Life at an Early Age
18. Take in a Little Etiquette Along The Way
19. Use Your Education to Help Other People
20. Let Your Education Shine Through
21. Above All, Get Wisdom and Understanding
PART III: On Your Life — As A Young Black Woman
22. Beware of the Dawgs - Part I
23. Beware of the Dawgs - Part II
24. On Not Being a Silly-Minded Woman
25. On Staying a Virgin Until You Get Married
26. If You Want to Get Married, Here’s How to Get a Good Man
27. The Case for Never Getting Married
28. The Kind of Man You Should Not Marry
29. How to Think Like a Man, Yet Be All Woman
30. How to Win At Relationships (And Never Get Hurt)
31. How Not to Become a Victim
32. 10 Things Some Women Do That Absolutely Turn Men Off
33. Men Folk!
34. Straight Talk about Sex
35. The Power of a Consistently Cheerful Spirit and Personality
36. Good Girls Always Finish First
37. And For the Young Women Who Are
Already Married, by Meriqua Whyte
38. Papa’s Pet Peeves
39. If You Are Hurting
40. A Tribute to My Father, by Daniella Whyte
Author Bio
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in twenty-three foreign countries. He is the author of ten books. He is the President of Torch Ministries International, which publishes a magazine called The Torch Leader. He is also the chairman of the National Association to Save Young Black Men. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree. He is married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica. God has blessed their union with seven children.
