AGBM.com Salutes Black Fathers

To Black fathers who have tried to provide and protect.
Stay strong.
To Black fathers who continue to encourage and empower their children.
Continue.
To Black fathers who love Black mothers.
Thank you.
To Black fathers who practice what they preach.
Set the example.
To Black fathers who reach out and reach back.
Continue to uplift.
To Black fathers who are honest and honorable.
Remember Martin King.
To Black fathers who are determined and disciplined.
Remember Malcolm.
To Black fathers who have not given up.
Remember Mandela.
To Black fathers who are courageous and demanding.
Remember Douglass.
To Black fathers who are systematic and work hard.
Remember DuBois.
For Black fathers who are self-determining.
Remember Booker T.
For Black fathers who have decided to win,
who have decided to fight back,
who don't make excuses and
who promote and practice the essence of
black fatherhood/manhood/brotherhood...

Let's continue to celebrate the power of our endurance.
Let's continue to choose the right path.
Let's remain strong and let's keep the faith.

In her article, "A Chop Off The Old Block", contributing writer Lena Moore writes: "In the slightly darkened radio station, Keith "Chop Chop" Fisher looks very comfortable behind the microphone as he closes out the Sunday Jazz Brunch on Magic 95.9 (fm radio)..." more

Dr. Lloyd Bowser, share his fondest memories of his dad in To My Pops: "My dad was the oldest and the oldest male of all his siblings and as such had to maintain a cool and level demeanor..."more

In a touching tribute to her Dad, LaVita Hines shares in, "To My Dad": "He taught my brother, what his responsibilities were to be a man and his responsibilities if he himself was not able to carry on. He taught his three daughters what to except and accept from a man..." more

Greetings my good black men. I speak to the fathers that visit agoodblackman.com. Basically, we need an answer to the following question: How can we be great and magnificent fathers?

First of all, we should get to know our children. We should eat dinner with them when we can, and sometimes with the television OFF. Read a book with them, share your viewpoints and take interest in theirs. Write them a letter every once in a while; just to tell them that you love them and that you're happy that they're around.

When you come home from work, before you look through your mail or anything, go through your house and find each one of your children and give them a hug.

Before they go to bed, read to/with them, tuck them in, get on your knees and pray with them. Share with them what God has done in your life that day.

Get to know your children's friends, and the parents of your children's friends. Try not to let your children go into a home that you yourself have not been in.

Teach your children about their family. Here is a simple quiz to give your children. Can they name each of their grandparents brothers and sisters, and where they fall chronologically in the line? If they can't do this, you need to teach them and see to it that they can.

Visit your childs school regularly. Take a 1/2 day off and sit in on their classes with them. They'll remember and appreciate it for life.

Also, can we as fathers, measure our success in life apart from our children? Are you a success if you have a Ph.D., if you're the VP of a fortune 500 corporation, if you're a doctor, or a pastor, or an attorney, or a GS100 in the government? Consider this, if your children aren't successful, then you aren't successful. I won't delineate examples, because you know what I mean.

Lastly, what type of rules do you have for your house? They should be rules for the HOUSE (i.e., each and every family member), and not just rules for the children. If it's not OK for them to watch R-rated movies, then it should be just as undesirable for us to watch R-rated movies. If they can't use profanity, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or say "shut up" in the house, then we shouldn't either. A father should be what he wants his child to become.

Let's allow our children see us be a man of God, using the Sword of the Spirit (i.e., the word of God) to build a shield big enough to protect our children and everything that God made us responsible for.

Our sons and daughters should be able to recognize a man of character and integrity, a disciplined and patient man, a humble and committed man. They can best recognize this model when they have been raised by one, and when they have seen the struggle required to be this type of man, to be this type of father.

We cannot afort to be the ordinary and typical father, because that father cannot keep the devil out of his home. Let us be the great and magnificent father that God intended us to be.

We need it, and more importantly, our children need it. Happy Father's Day!!

• Links to Fatherhood Web Sites And Organizations
• Fathers and their children
• Black Men Raising Girls Alone

[back to top]