Sunday, June 15, 2014

FATHER'S DAY AFFIRMATION 2014

FREDERICK DOUGLASS SITTING WITH ONE OF HIS TWO SONS


FATHERS DAY: SERVING AS AN EFFECTIVE AFFIRMATION AND ASPIRATION FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY


Because the image of the Black American male is far too often portrayed as a negative rather than a positive in mainstream American culture the celebration of “Father’s Day” has always served to affirm the existence of what we affectionately call a, “Good Black Man” and the existence of a standard for traditional family values.   On father’s day we affirm that in spite of the odds cohesive and loving nuclear families including a strong patriarchal figure have survived.  Similar in theory to the “Black Power” and “Black Is Beautiful” campaigns of the 1960’s and 1970’s civil rights movement, father’s day, within the context of the Black American community, has always served as a time when Black American families can celebrate the amazing contribution of the black men who play an important role in their lives and say “We Are Not That Negative Stereotype; We Are The Exception!”.  What we are really saying is that we are just the same, we are all the same, we too are blessed to have wonderful fathers whom we love and revere too the same as every other human being! 

SAMMY DAVIS JR. ENJOYING FAMILY LIFE WITH HIS SON


The sobering reality for all black men that everything ultimately comes down to race in America is certainly not a problem of their choosing.  All black people are similarly frustrated in America whenever they are forced to take the position that everything is subject to a different set of variables when it comes to them due to a racial climate they did not create but must incessantly defend against.  Ultimately father’s day is no different across races because it shares a universal reverence for manhood blessed by fatherhood.  Because the image of Black American men is embattled on all fronts however, father’s day necessarily takes on a more sociopolitical nuance in the black community because American society’s view of black fatherhood has always been portrayed as an essay in systemic failure.  This is why Black Americans who speak consciously of their oppression often include in their celebrations of accomplishment their gratitude at having overcome these omnipresent racial barriers.  To those who are not black it must certainly appear that most socially conscious Black Americans are obsessed with race.  This is a myth which is able to take shape in the mind of those considered to be mainstream because they are not challenged to defend themselves on every front solely on the basis of skin color.  Honest and ethically sound people who react defensibly to racism are not militants or racists themselves but in a country so deeply in denial about race those who openly defend their rights against racial bias are portrayed as malcontents and dissidents because they challenge the established state of universally targeted forgetfulness.  Everyone appears to agree not to deal with race unless forced in  spite of the fact that it exists all around them. The simple solution to end racism is to just be honest and deal with the darned thing! Therefore I am unapologetic about my choice to represent what might otherwise be viewed as universal issues from the perspective of a man of color since color has never ceased to be a discriminating factor for the world in which I live…  When race ceases to be a negative issue in this world then I will happily let it die but alas that is not anywhere close to the reality of contemporary human civilization...  To make the equation that more difficult it is incontrovertibly true that in order for one to ever imagine themselves capable of erasing the scar of racism from the world one must themselves be free from the potent ideological curse of racism...  Ideological battles are so very different yet similar in nature from physical ones.  In hand to hand combat opponents might be equally matched with physical weaponry but their mental skill as warriors and even a bit of divinely inspired luck might decidedly turn the tide.  Because racism is so keenly an ideological manner of warfare those who fight against it must always be certain they do not employ the same racist tactics as their adversaries!  The successful battle against racism is fought with clever blows of non-racist rationale, keener, broader and more subtle in their application poised to win the war with strategic battles rather than expend itself in vain, myopic skirmishes...

W. E. B. DUBOIS AND HIS EARLY FAMILY


Those within the black community who do celebrate father’s day as a family event effectively help to erase the stigma of “the missing patriarch” establishing that there is a clear and essential relationship between the male-identified element of fatherhood and the establishment of a healthy, gender balance in the nuclear family structure.  Statistically there are some profoundly troubling issues regarding the effective presence of the patriarch of the black family a reality that has inspired numerous grass roots organizations such as the Fatherhood Initiative.  This does not mean that women have not been able to administer effective parenting in the absence of a patriarch but affirms the importance and effectiveness of gender-specific parenting as a shared role between father and mother as an essential variable in the development of a child's self and world view. It would be impossible to intelligently discuss this topic without honestly examining the many factors deterring black men from assuming a positive role in the parenting of the children they propagate.  As is often the default the way our media generates images and expectations of black men for consumption in popular culture plays a huge role in the way black men are ultimately socialized and view themselves as potential fathers.  However the lion’s share of the responsibility must fall upon the negligent shoulders of the perversely ethically and morally corrupt black community itself.  Black Americans cannot blame non-black controlled media for the ruination of their family values because it promotes the almighty dollar before sound sociocultural standards.  

MARCUS GARVEY AND HIS WIFE AND THE FIRST OF TWO SONS


Black Americans cannot blame racism for the streaming of black males into careers of crime, drugs, illiteracy and apathy such that they are unable to assume their patriarchal responsibilities.  If the Black American community cannot see that the solution will ultimately be realized by targeting itself as the main problem and understand that it must galvanize itself to become an effective infrastructure against internal deterioration then all the efforts of every civil rights leader is wasted.  No one but the black community can reverse the substantial early-loss of its potential patriarchs, (black male children), to the vices of this world; we alone hold the key to a working solution? It is long overdue for the remnant of the once strong black community to take a look at itself and thereby recognize that it has become its own worst enemy…  Gone are the days of the Knights of the white camellia! Remove the white robes from the heads of our worst adversaries and beneath them lay cloaked men and women “black as Cain” to quote Phillis Wheatley. Invoking the saying, “Begin from the beginning”, I suggest that even if it is for one day out the year, the celebration of fatherhood in the fractured community of Black America is a positive step in the right direction and the challenge is to discover how to expand this homage to fatherhood to the remaining 364 days of the year…  “Let the congregation say Amen”!

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND HIS TWO SONS


On this father’s day, even if the father does not represent a text-book, mythically proportioned, dad; paying homage to his contribution to the lives of his children and immediate family serves to affirm that good black fathers do exist and are doing the difficult work of fathering in a complex and erratic world that is more often pitted against their success than not.  Family values are important core elements of a cohesive, vibrant and dynamic culture and while in the twenty-first century we have a host of viable alternatives to the classic patriarchal family structure there is no denying that having an effective, loving father in the lives of his children, their mother, family and friends plays an enormous role in the establishment of a positive cultural image for black men and especially those who are fathers.  Because the black community has thrived through times of far greater external oppression we know that it is possible for an internal redirection to fix missing father syndrome without the assistance of mainstream media.  That puts the entire responsibility on the black community to overcome this adversity as it has in the past by doing the darned thing all by itself.  Therefore I say that it is not truly as great and hopeless an issue as may seem…   When I see happy families enjoying the blessings of father’s day it means that there still exist many good fathers; yes indeed there is much work to be done but far less than if I were to see no affirmations of fatherhood at all…  I bow low to these esteemed men who have joined the ranks of countless fathers before them spanning from the advent of humanity itself!  Through fatherhood the critical and primordial instructions for manhood are passed from one generation to the next.  The fathers of all humanity have passed on mankind’s ethical and moral code-book enabling our species to survive on this planet and in the name of all that is good and humane in this life I pray that this continuum will never be broken and that the Black American community will awaken and resume its global responsibility to pass down to each new generation the glorious torch of humanity…


FIN

PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH HIS  WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS 


Written By Bigdaddy Blues
WWW.THESTORIESOFBLACKMEN.BLOGSPOT.COM


SUGGESTED LINKS:


  1.  Julius Garvey comments on the lagacy of his father Marcus Garvey:  http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/PrimeTimeNews.aspx/Videos/20220  


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