founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, to whom Brown dedicates Manchild In A Promised Land. Brown portrays for us the utter shame and helplessness in being relegated to a school for troubled African American boys; it is only due to the sincere and conscientious efforts of the school administrator, Mr.Papanek, that Sonny is able to start his journey of pulling himself out of the mire of poverty and crime. When he finally leaves Harlem, he learns that even though he has no future with a white girl with whom he falls in love, he will never be blinded again by being overly conscious about color. The fact that he is able to love a white girl proves his humanity, and even though her parents send her away in disapproval, he learns that a strong sense of self is the key to meaning in his life as he explores his African heritage and various religions, from Coptic Christianity to Islam.

Crime

Brown portrays crime as one of the biggest handicaps Harlem youth had to contend with in the 1950s. Crime is only attractive because it is the means to an end. It is the means of survival; low wages were a contributing factor to the high crime rate among angry and disillusioned African American youth in Harlem in the 1950s. Yet, there is a silver lining to Brown's story; education is the key to Brown's Sonny making his own way out of the never-ending and soul-destroying environment of drugs, police brutality and death.