We recently celebrated Father's Day. We celebrated the men in our lives that help to raise, mentor and guide our children. To the fathers that have pictures in their wallets where money used to be and know all the words to "If You're Happy and You Know It"...we salute you. Starting with the positive, research shows that more African American fathers live with their children than live apart from them. These dads care for their children as they teach them, play and pray with them and love them. Unfortunately, not every child had a present father to celebrate. No father to cherish a handmade card or yet another tie. Now there are greeting cards that wish mothers a "Happy Father's Day". This acknowledges the number of single mothers that are managing households alone. I applaud and respect the sacrifices and the fortitude of these women. Some say that mothers are playing the role of both mother and father. I dare to argue that is impossible to do that. Although we are well aware that many mothers successfully raise their children, this is not the point of debate. I believe that a mother in fact, cannot play the role of a father. There are certain things that fathers bring to the table that a mother simply can't model. This may be a little controversial, but if the absence of a father made no difference, the statistics for children that grow up without one would not be so disheartening. Let me also go on record as acknowledging that a father does not have to physically be in the home to be involved. I am specifically talking about absent fathers. Additionally, the issue isn’t which parent is most important, an absent mother is just as detrimental.
Many of our black men are displaced from civilian life. In fact, more than one in every six black men ages 24-to-54 are gone because they died young or are locked away in prison. There are only 83 living and not incarcerated black men to every 100 black women. The unavailability of black men yield instability in our homes, communities and lives of our children. This dilemma does not only exist in Black America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America -- one out of every three -- live in biological father-absent homes. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be impoverished. These facts don't obviously apply to everyone but grounding our conversation in some solid statistics makes sense. Research shows that the love or rejection of mothers or fathers equally affects a kid’s behavior, self-esteem and emotional health. Kids with more involved fathers tend to exhibit lower levels of behavior problems. They are also less likely to engage in delinquency or substance abuse. There is also a link to academic performance and reduced risk to incarceration. 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
T's Top Three
1. The impact of Fatherlessness is real and important to acknowledge as we understand the detriment to children that grow up without their father or a father figure
2. As a community we should facilitate more opportunities for positive male role models to mentor and engage with our youth. These role models don’t have to bare a fancy title. They just need to be dependable and respectable citizens.
3. A Woman cannot assume the influence of a man therefore a mother cannot be the father. She can be a great mother, but in no way can she teach her son how to be a man nor can she teach her daughter the unconditional love of a man.
Many of our black men are displaced from civilian life. In fact, more than one in every six black men ages 24-to-54 are gone because they died young or are locked away in prison. There are only 83 living and not incarcerated black men to every 100 black women. The unavailability of black men yield instability in our homes, communities and lives of our children. This dilemma does not only exist in Black America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America -- one out of every three -- live in biological father-absent homes. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be impoverished. These facts don't obviously apply to everyone but grounding our conversation in some solid statistics makes sense. Research shows that the love or rejection of mothers or fathers equally affects a kid’s behavior, self-esteem and emotional health. Kids with more involved fathers tend to exhibit lower levels of behavior problems. They are also less likely to engage in delinquency or substance abuse. There is also a link to academic performance and reduced risk to incarceration. 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
T's Top Three
1. The impact of Fatherlessness is real and important to acknowledge as we understand the detriment to children that grow up without their father or a father figure
2. As a community we should facilitate more opportunities for positive male role models to mentor and engage with our youth. These role models don’t have to bare a fancy title. They just need to be dependable and respectable citizens.
3. A Woman cannot assume the influence of a man therefore a mother cannot be the father. She can be a great mother, but in no way can she teach her son how to be a man nor can she teach her daughter the unconditional love of a man.
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