Caregiving and Generativity

Abstract

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).