Black dads love.
black dads rock. black dads rule.
In that way, we are no different than any other dads who adore and want nothing but the best for their children. We love hard and we love unconditionally. We love deeply and we love forever.
In so many ways, we are no different than any other dads. Yet, for some reason, in the eyes and minds of many, it seems we (black dads, black men, and black people in general) remain somewhat of a cultural anomaly. So, a few of us have decided to take it upon ourselves to share our thoughts, feelings, and stories. As time permits, we'll share photos and essays and poetry and meandering brain dumps. We'll share art, music, lyrics, and anecdotes. We'll share other forms of communication that happen to strike us as relevant and powerful in the moment, with the hope that someday sharing all of these things will be completely unnecessary because people like us and different from us won't need to be convinced that we're actually not up to no good. It will be naturally plausible that we're somewhere being thoughtful or diligent or altruistic or prophetic. It will be totally within character that we're helping build and grow and nurture and inspire. It will be a safe assumption that we're not off rioting, looting, vandalizing, or otherwise trying to tear the world asunder. As it stands, we're shooting photos and not pistols. We're hitting the books and not the streets. We're killing it on stage and in the boardroom, not inflicting bodily harm on others.
If you're out combing the neighborhood, looking to find us up to no good, maybe burglarizing someone's house or sipping gin and juice down a back alley, please do us all a favor and stop. I'm laughing right now and hopefully, whatever color you are, you are too. Because it's ridiculous, isn't it? Preposterous to think that—thanks in large part to the media, and the movies, and primetime TV—that's the sum total of black male behavior. Go on and laugh. But then stop. Please stop. Please wipe those tired, corny visuals from your mind. Please be curious about our tastes in music without assuming we all listen to hip hop. Please strike up a conversation about athletic prowess without going straight to basketball. If a white person doesn't listen to Led Zeppelin or has never heard of them, the world doesn't get mad and threaten to strip them of their white card. So when a black person knows more about Sting than Stevie or Brahms than Biggie, let's take that as an opportunity, all of us, to learn from and appreciate one another rather than hold it against them.
Our tastes are as eclectic as they come. Our palates are as varied and seasoned as any. Our thirst for knowledge and penchant for travel is unrivaled. So we hope to make great strides by allowing ourselves to revel in our absolute uniqueness as independent, free-thinking, brown-skinned human beings.
We're going to have fun on this site, showcasing how broad and rich and dynamic a people we are. We're going to lean on irony and sarcasm and humor at times to break down walls, build bridges, and open minds. We're going to work hard to dispel as many myths as we can and travel far, far beyond the stereotypes that continue to plague us all (not just black people). But, since many of us are black and black men, no less, we figured it makes sense to start close to home and grow from there.
It seems silly that in the year 2016 we have to step back and walk people through truths that seem fairly obvious but I suppose we're never quite as far along societally as we may like to believe. As much as I prefer to view myself as a complete human being with the color of my skin being merely another trait, and as much as I'd prefer to create a site that just championed all dads or even all parents, it's apparent to me that we're simply not there yet. We must continually demonstrate that black men are pursuing excellence in all facets of their lives to counter the overwhelming perception that they are not. If I want the pervading conversation to change, it has become clear that that is partly my responsibility.
Make no mistakes about it, black dads love. I am one, and I do. Many of my friends and colleagues featured on this site are as well, and they do. Black dads read their kids bedtime stories and they tuck them in. They give their kids piggy-back rides and run circles around the living room furniture with rainbow-colored jump ropes tied to their back belt loop, pretending to be a horse, while their giddy 7-year-olds skid in socked feet behind them. They cook dinner and watch the Olympics together while curled up in bed. Black dads are dads.
And please bear in mind, this is just a small group of black dads who feel compelled to do what they can to flip the script. By no means do we represent the thoughts and feelings of all black dads. That would be impossible. We may not even be representing the sentiments of the majority of black dads. We may be completely alone in this quest. We hope not but, even if that were the case, we are on a mission to contribute to the positive portrayals of black men in the world, rather than the negative. It's no more complicated than that. Thank you for visiting this site and we hope you choose to return.
Photo credit: Dana Satterwhite
