Book Excerpt #5: Meet Griffin

Statement: Black men are being exposed to pornography at younger ages.

Yes. Um, the older generations had tapes and DVDs laying around their house. I know it's not just my father, so I would say about five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve years old, like pre-adolescence, you're at least seeing what pornography is.

Statement: Viewing pornography negatively influences development in Black boys and young Black men.

Pornography without any type of, I would say, positive male or female reinforcement…to have a male there to tell you, "First of all, it's not wrong to watch this. This is a natural human feeling what you’re feeling now," so that for young Black men to have another Black male to tell you why your mother may be mad or why anybody else may be mad, "I'm not mad at you, so let's talk about it. The stuff that you see in porn is acting. This is scripted, these are professionals, this is professional sex work, in a sense, and film work, and you don't have to be like the people on this, but this is what has been used to satisfy and entertain people for a long time." So, positive reinforcement with porn, it can't negatively affect your behavior, probably positively affect it. But porn without any type of reinforcement will negatively affect your perception of yourself, and possibly behavior.

Statement: Viewing pornography is socially acceptable.

Yes. At a certain point, especially if you're talking about young Black males…I'd even go so far as to call it a rite of passage, along with your first sexual encounter.