Authors Dr Richard A Cross and Dr Adrain A Artary have published a new book, titled The Art Of Mastering Mentoring, aimed at fostering development among readers.

“This book was coordinated with Dr Adrain to help mentors to understand a more in depth way to be effective. One thing we know right now is that our young people, especially our males, need mentors. However, mentoring is not just giving advice; it’s understanding the young people, for one, and understanding ourselves so that they can overcome their challenges and become successful,” Dr Cross told the Jamaica Observer.

The book was published on March 14. Both men, who have Jamaican roots, are based in the United States.

Cross is the founder of The Black Male Impact — an initiative committed to empowering young black men through mentorship, leadership development, and educational excellence. With a career spanning over 12 years in higher education, he has also served in various impactful roles, including first-year experience instructor, professor of sociology and criminal justice, retention specialist, and director of mentoring and tutoring. He has published over 50 books and journals including Going Beyond Limitations, Letters to Future Black Male Educators, The Student Oracle, The Respected Leader, PAIN: The Unseen Journey of a Black Man, and Black Men: It’s Time to Rise.

In the meantime, Dr Artary lauded the collaborative effort, citing that he and his friend and mentor had a similar vision for the book.

“We’ve been working on this book for over a year now. It was definitely the best of both worlds because we studied together at Clark Atlanta University, where Dr Cross also served as my professor. My dissertation focused on high achieving African American males, as it relates to mentorship programmes and his was in alignment with emotional intelligence and we just wanted to contribute to society; particularly Jamaican men. So, it was a natural process that has been going on for over a year now,” he told the Observer.

Dr Artary attended CAU as a Gates Millennium Scholar and currently holds three degrees from the school including a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership, and a Doctor of Education Degree in Higher Education Leadership. He serves as the Dean of Students at a charter school specializing in the arts.

The authors further noted that they will be pulling out all the stops to make it accessible.

“This book will be available everywhere. Most people have been purchasing books on Amazon, but we’re gonna try our best to get it in some book stores in Jamaica,” Dr Cross told the Observer.