Nipsey Hussle was a bookworm. Now black men are finding inspiration in what he read


Dion Pouncil, left, and DeRon Cash during a gathering of The Marathon Book Club in Los Angeles. The group of black men meets every month to discuss books touted by the late rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle.(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

By ANGEL JENNINGS
JAN. 5, 2020
6 AM

“How many times as black men have we heard something before and had to bite our tongues?”

DeRon Cash, his tattooed forearms resting on his knees, curled a paperback revered by the late Nipsey Hussle in his hand. He didn’t really mean it as a question — and the other black men huddled around a coffee table in Boyle Heights knew not to answer.

Once a month, Cash and a group of men come together for The Marathon Book Club — one of several chapters across the country that were founded after Hussle was killed outside his South Los Angeles clothing store in March.

In the aftermath of his death, fans grasped for ways to honor him. Some made the pilgrimage to his shop off Slauson Avenue. Others painted his face in bright hues on the sides of buildings.

A 31-year-old fan from Wisconsin created a meme listing all of the books that Hussle had mentioned in interviews, songs and motivational messages that she had been compiling for years. It includes self-help bestsellers, cult classics and little-known books by black authors.

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