I. "AN HOUR OF PLAY": THEORETICAL FRAMES FOR THE PLAAY PROJECT -- Introduction: Boys, not men: hypervulnerability in African American youth ; Remembering culture: the roots of culturally relevant anger ; Why black males need cultural socialization / Howard C. Stevenson Jr. ... [et al.] -- II. "IF WE MUST DIE": EXAMPLES OF PLAAY PROJECT INTERVENTIONS -- "If we must die": CPR for managing catch-33, alienation, and hypervulnerability / Elaine F. Cassidy ... [et al.] -- PLAAY fighting in martial arts / Nimr Hassan ... [et al.] -- Emotions in motion: teaching emotional empowerment through basketball / Howard C. Stevenson Jr. ... [et al.] -- COPE: community outreach through parent empowerment / Saburah Abdul-Kabir ... [et al.] -- Life after PLAAY: alumni group and rites of passage empowerment (ROPE) / Gwendolyn Y. David ... [et al.] -- Raising boys to be men: distance does not make the heart grow fonder / Howard C. Stevenson Jr.