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The question of our research and our book is as follows: What is the experience of African-American elder male caregivers? Research and literature on African-American older males as informal, primary caregivers of demented or impaired family members, particularly spouses, are negligible. Male caregivers in general have been called “hidden” caregivers. Thus, we named the elderly African-American male caregivers we interviewed for this book “the hidden among the hidden.” We asked the experts—a group of 13 African-American male caregivers—to discuss the concrete and nonmaterial aspects of giving care to an impaired loved one. Our book addresses the knowledge gap about African-American male caregivers by revealing, in case-study form, their experiences of caregiving in the context of their personal biography and cohort history. Our focus is the practical and existential meaning of daily life as a caregiver. The men discussed in this book are over 60 years of age, most are long married, and they have been caregivers in their homes for at least 5 years and as long as 25 years. Their loved ones, particularly wives, suffered from a variety of illnesses and debilities that necessitated hands-on care. The book examines varied aspects of the caregiving experience, the unique generativity of men who give care, and the emotions and conflicts about decision making that emerge in day-to-day caregiving.

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African-American men revealed a unique type of generativity. It was rooted in their experiences as African-American men, including the foundation they received from family and their experiences of marginalization and racism in the wider world. They believed they had received a legacy from ancestors that was “a responsibility, a warning, and a promise to the five generations that follow them” (Black, Groce, & Harmon, 2011, p. 167). In this chapter we explore the contextual generativity that men disclose. That is, generativity that sprang from the unique circumstances of their lives as African Americans; their ability to be generative “despite the small container the larger world allowed them” (Harmon as cited in Black et al., 2011, p. 3).