Why it Matters

Decades of research nationally and locally show that when fathers are engaged in positive ways, children, families and communities thrive.

 

Standing with George Floyd and All Fathers

 

For more than 20 years, our statewide fatherhood initiative has worked to make life better, safer, and more promising for fathers, helping men of every color, ability and faith, establish or regain their sense of purpose as provider for themselves and their families.

 

Today we amplify the voices of African American fathers and men.

 

Breath is precious but the pain of losing it should be natural not stolen. George Floyd’s last breath was taken from him in an act of utter brutality that also ended any hopes, dreams or possibilities he had for himself or his now fatherless children.

 

His senseless death is yet another painful reminder of the venomous manifestation of racism and the broken system that supports it and continues to destroy families leaving more fatherless children to find their own way in life. With this horrific incident, no one has triumphed. We have all lost.

 

Our mission includes affecting a paradigm shift in the negative stereotypes of fathers, especially African American fathers. We see first-hand the injustices and unnecessary barriers African American fathers face that keep them separated from their families. Many of these barriers are the direct result of systemic racism rooted in structures, policies and practices.  We see these barriers at work in our courts, in opportunities for employment and education and even well-intended human service agencies and nonprofit organizations. These obstacles leave fathers torn from their families; hurting, outraged, and frustrated.

Yet, most fathers love their children and want them to know they are loved. They want the opportunity to see their children grow up and prosper with a sense of hope and well-being.

George Floyd and so many other African American men will no longer have that chance. So, let us use our breath to raise our voices, use our minds to learn, and our hearts and our hands to work together for lasting change.

We will not stop fighting for fathers and families and for an end to racism and social injustice.

 

“I have  a dream that  my four children  will  one day live in a nation  where  they  will  not be judged by the color of their  skin,  but by the content  of their  character.”

 

 

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.