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CRY FOR HELP

An Open Letter to Jamie Foxx

ABOUT BOOK

Cry for Help — An Open Letter to Jamie Foxx is an appeal to talk about race and revive African American relationships and culture, in light of Jamie Foxx’s recent What Had Happened Was… Netflix special. The pages to follow depict many of the struggles that everyday African Americans oftentimes endure along the path to experience a meaningful life. Ultimately, after listening to and knowing the deeper issues currently affecting African Americans, including as this book purports, African Americans will now be more inclined to manifest solutions that meet our needs. In particular, the need to restore African American community will be clear.

A Letter to Jamie Foxx

Dear Jamie:

To be clear, I would like for you to continue to read this book, which is a relevant, personal, contemporary reflection upon many similar themes as you presented in your Netflix special What Had Happened Was…. Whether intended or unintended, you successfully painted a needed picture for me and other African Americans to confidently take into 2025: African American community and God go hand-in-hand with realizing true African American identity. Further, What Had Happened Was… was also notable in that it offered me an additionally needed cultural ingredient: you offered comfort to members of the African American community who are still longing for a chance to likewise express their pain.

Regrettably, the full story of life as a present-day African American – even in year 2025 – has not been told. For African Americans must often hold back feelings specific to our ethnicity because culture – at large – is not always ready to process our reflections. As a sign of hope, however, your testimony in What Had Happened Was… parallels the struggles of countless African Americans today who are less notable but also yearn to find meaning in life. The pages to follow, then, depict many of these struggles that everyday African Americans ofttimes endure along their journey, in their effort to experience a meaningful life. They are a reminder to keep the spotlight on everyday African Americans, who should also not be forgotten, knowing that African American celebrity concerns, however meaningful, reflect just a snapshot of the struggles that everyday African Americans still experience behind the cameras and lights.

It is my contention that empathy for African American life still matters, whether you are a famous African American or not. This book will cover some of these critical, but common African American needs, and seeks to give rise to the question, What does it take to live a truly fulfilling life as an African American?

BOOK CHAPTERS

Chapter-1

Behind the Curtain

As an African American himself, Jamie Foxx dared to be open about his near-death experience, including how he felt and how he overcame it. Improv[ing] African American life [likewise] requires courage to get started.

Chapter-2

Lights, Cameras, Action

Just as Jamie Foxx was resolved to share a bold truth concerning things he went through in What Had Happened Was…, commitment is another element needed among African Americans in 2025 and beyond.

Chapter-3

Me in the Mirror

Perception, unfortunately, is fundamentally flawed. Jamie Foxx, for example, looked healthy and strong on stage during his What Had Happened Was… Netflix special.

Chapter-4

For the Sisters

Romance was one topic from What Had Happened Was…, which undoubtedly left many wondering how romance played out for them in real life.

Chapter-5

The African American Perspective

As Jamie Foxx alluded to, incorporating an ethnic lens is necessary to fully understand and honestly explain the depth behind…trends affecting African American communities, including relationship trends.

Chapter-6

A Deeper Look

Many African Americans too hold very personal feelings about their experience with U.S. racism – beyond the surface – on the inside of them.

Chapter-7

A Call to Empathy

Without empathy…it is hard to admit the reality that racism, in fact, accounts for the degenerative manner in which millions of African Americans continue to suffer.

Chapter-8

Capitalism and Community

Because capitalism primarily places economic responsibility on the individual, encouraging private ownership, the “freedom” within capitalism is one that simultaneously allows for great poverty since it gives the most leverage to those who already have resources.

Chapter-9

A Mental Impression

[Funny or not] all of Jamie Foxx’s material…was processed as such: What does this mean to me…in light of my experience as an African American?

Chapter-10

Personal Reflections

Just as Jamie Foxx had a personal experience that differed from the image of stardom that many knew him by, it is sometimes necessary to go inside the mind of African Americans to see what life is really like.

Chapter-11

Building an Understanding

The exterior display [does] not tell its full story. In the same breath, African Americans are more than what we go through.

Chapter-12

Cry for Help

Jamie took his audience beyond the surface on purpose to invite us to ponder how ethnicity and African American identity, to some extent, were a sincere part of his current thoughts.

Chapter-13

Check the Script

By eliminating the notion of having a traditional family structure, slavery took away African Americans’ experience of the inherent unity that comes with a family and that comes with people who are connected.

Chapter-14

No More Bunnies, A Call to Action

Pastor Keion Henderson…Senior Pastor at The Lighthouse Church in Houston, Texas…defines wisdom for us in a particularly palatable way, saying, “[wisdom is] the art of seeing the unseen, discerning the truth, beyond facts, and knowing when silence speaks louder than words.” Hereby, he suggests…we [can] use wisdom to carry out our purpose.

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About Author

MARVIN EMMANUEL

Marvin Emmanuel is a current doctoral student with a passion for the African American community. Originally from Buffalo, NY, he has a long history of public service and has worked with numerous government and social service agencies throughout his career in primarily urban areas with great need. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Canisius College and a Master of Divinity degree from Shaw University, a historically black college and university. Through his work and writing, Marvin aims to stimulate change and equip African Americans with needed tools to maximize their inherent calling related to their existential journey as African Americans.

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