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Posts tagged as “black fatherhood”

EDITORIAL: Disadvantaged Fathers Should Be Supported, Not Stigmatized

By goodblacknews on June 19, 2016

DDG Still.jpg
by Omar Epps, Malik Yoba and Emily Abt

The image of the “deadbeat dad” has been and remains pervasive but there are millions of men in America who live in defiance of this stereotype. Our film “Daddy Don’t Go” was born from these parallel and enduring realities: that one in three American children is fatherless but there are also countless fathers fighting to be active in their children’s lives who deserve to be seen.

In an effort to better understand the obstacles these men face, we followed four disadvantaged dads –Roy, Nelson, Omar and Alex – over the course of two years as they struggled to be present fathers. The issues in the film are close to our hearts. Omar is the product of a fatherless household but now a proud father of three.  Malik credits his own father with being the inspiration for his perseverance during a tough custody battle. Emily’s grandfather was excluded from her father’s life for his inability to pay child support.  So we were all deeply committed to exploring the issue of fatherlessness when we began making the film three years ago, what did we learn along the way?
Persistent unemployment is a major problem for disadvantaged fathers.  All four of the fathers in “Daddy Don’t Go” very much wanted to work but struggled to get and keep steady jobs.  They are certainly not alone in this struggle.  Working, in America, is in decline. The number of men ages 25 to 54 who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s.
Making this film had us yearning for the work programs of the New Deal era when millions of men were given the opportunity to work and provide financial security for their families. Our current government has made great efforts to enforce child support payments but where are the large-scale job programs for disadvantaged men that could really make a difference?
Our second big take-away from making “Daddy Don’t Go” is that while there have been vast improvements; our family court system still treats men like second-class parents.  Child support payments are mostly shouldered by men but only 18% of fathers have custody of their children.  This means that a man’s financial role in his child’s life continues to be prioritized above his emotional one.

FATHER'S DAY: Powerful Photos That Challenge Prejudiced Notions of Black Fatherhood

By goodblacknews on June 19, 2016
These Powerful Photos Will Challenge All Your Notions of Black Fatherhood
Image Credit: Campaign for Black Male Achievement

A New Image of Black Fatherhood [PHOTOS]

By goodblacknews on November 20, 2014
Giovanni and 9-month-old Ethan chill on their Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn stoop.  (Photo by Marcus Franklin) 
By Marcus Franklin
This photo essay is part of Life Cycles of Inequity: A Colorlines Series on Black Men. In this installment, we explore and challenge the notion that black families face a crisis of fatherhood. The installment includes a dispatch from Baltimore, in which four dads challenge the easy assumption that all children of unwed mothers have absent fathers. 
In June of 2013 I started photographing black men and their children and created The Fatherhood Project, the online home for photos that capture them in ordinary moments. A single dad helping his daughter with math homework during a break at work. A dad teaching his daughter how to walk as they wait to see a doctor. A father and son chilling on a stoop.
Why photograph black men and their children? What’s extraordinary about these subjects?
For starters, black men taking care of our children is, on some level, revolutionary—and a form of resistance to the legacies of laws and other tools used to hinder our ability to parent. During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, for example, fathers were routinely separated from their children as family members were sold. And currently, disproportionately and consistently high incarceration and unemployment rates for black men have made it difficult, if not impossible for many to parent. There’s also the disproportionately high rate of homicide among black men, whether by people in their own communities or at the hands of the state. My own father was murdered by a cop a couple of weeks before my 15th birthday.
As New York Times writer Brent Staples asked in a tweet this past Fathers’ Day: “Imagine yourself jailed on a low-level Rockefeller-era drug charge. Now a felon: denied a job, housing and the vote. How would you ‘Father’”?

Top Good Black News Posts of 2013

By goodblacknews on December 31, 2013


As we enter into 2014, like everywhere else, GBN is reflecting on what made 2013 truly memorable. There have been historic moments (Barack Obama’s second inauguration to the Presidency of the United States, the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, Obamacare withstanding severe political and technical challenges) sobering moments (the George Zimmerman trial, the Boston Marathon Bombing, the Oklahoma Tornado Disaster) and inspiring moments (Charles Ramsey rescuing Ariel Castro’s captives, Antoinette Tuff talking down a would-be elementary school shooter, Homeless Teen Drew Gooch earning a full scholarship to college).
Of all the stories we posted this year, however, the ones most popular with GBN’s readers have primarily focussed on education, super-intelligent youth, and the debunking of the “deadbeat dad” myth that unfairly haunts so many African-American fathers:

TOP 5 POSTS of 2013

 
Thessalonika5. 14 Year-Old Thessalonika Arzu-Embry To Earn Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Chicago State University
On weekdays, Bryan August-Jones wakes before sunrise in his home in Watts. He gets his three sons dressed, then takes them to the baby sitter and to school. On weekends, they go on bike rides and out to eat. (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times / December 19, 2013)
4. Survey Finds Black Fathers are as Involved with Their Kids as Men of Other Races
Gabrielle Turnquest
 
3. 18 Year-Old Gabrielle Turnquest Becomes Youngest Ever to Pass Britain’s Bar Exams
2. “Living Single” Actress Erika Alexander Co-Writes Graphic with Black HeroineErika Alexander
and…
Adam Kirby1. Child Prodigy Adam Kirby, 2, becomes Youngest Ever to Join Genius Club Mensa
 
In 2014, GBN will strive to bring you much more of the same (as well as the surprising and unexpected), as we believe there can only be more Good Black News stories to cover. Because when you really look for it, you can find positivity everywhere.
Happy New Year!
Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Good Black News Founder & Editor-In-Chief

Detroit Group Led By Steven Dandridge Teaches Men How To Be Better Fathers

By goodblacknews on June 15, 2013

fathers day detroit
For a lot of men, being a father can be a daunting task. Some are unemployed. Many have poor relationships with the mother of their children. In the worst of circumstances, some are even in prison. But Steven Dandridge and his Detroit-based group, New Young Fathers, is working to help men learn how to be better men to their children–regardless of how rough their circumstances are.
“If you want to be a father, this is what it entails,” Dandridge told Fox 2 News Detroit. “You always have to be able to take care of your children, so you have to find employment. In order to do that, you have to be qualified for something. In order to do that, you also need to be able to get along with the mother of your children, whether you’re with her or not. You have to work together. You have to be on one accord when it comes to raising children.”