“I’m a Keep Rising. I’m a Keep Going Forward, Regardless”: Exploring Black Men’s Resilience Amid Sociostructural Challenges and Stressors

A growing number of health and social science research findings document Black men’s adversities, but far less is known about their strengths. The purpose of this study was to explore resilience among low-income, urban, Black men. Semistructured interviews produced rich narratives, which uncovered numerous sociostructural stressors in men’s lives, such as racism, incarceration, and unemployment. Most men were resilient despite these challenges, however, and described five main forms of resilience: (a) perseverance; (b) a commitment to learning from hardship; (c) reflecting and refocusing to address difficulties; (d) creating a supportive environment; and (e) drawing support from religion/spirituality. Analysis of men’s challenge and resilience narratives revealed the need to understand and promote low-income, urban, Black men’s resilience via a broader ecosocial perspective which acknowledges the importance of social and community-level protective factors to support individual men’s efforts to survive and thrive amid their adversities. Keywords African Americans; interviews; semistructured; men’s health; resilience; social issues The evidence is irrefutable that Black1 men in the United States face numerous and significant adversities. In recent years, various national reports have described Black men as disadvantaged, left behind, endangered, invisible, and/or in crisis (Edelman, Holzer, &amp