Black Man

 

When you turn on the local news, you are instantly hit with negative views of the Black man. He is viewed as a menace, drug dealer, thug, lazy, unemployed, a dead beat father, uneducated, a drug user, and automatically assumed to be up to no good. When you turn on the radio, you hear Black rappers bragging about “popping Molly’s”, flashing guns, how many bitches they run through, etc. As of today, Black men are more likely to become incarcerated than they are to graduate high school. Is that so hard to believe? The only thing our young Black boys hear and see is negative connotations of themselves. They are flooded with images and music telling them what is cool. Tell you what DIDN’T make news…the Chicago’s Urban Prep Academy for Young Black Men are celebrating their third year of 100% college bound graduates! 

I’ve started to digress and reel off on one of my tangents! LOL! My purpose of this post this morning is to shout out and shine light on the Black men that are doing their damn thang! ESPECIALLY Black fathers. We hear constantly how hard it is to be a single, Black mother. Don’t get me wrong…it is extremely tough to be a dedicated, single, Black mother…but imagine the dedicated, single, Black fathers! Things have started to change within the court system now to allow more rights for the Black fathers. More Black fathers are gaining custody, getting child support, etc. 

When I met my husband, he was a single, Black father. While dating, I watched him prepare for school (daycare) every morning, work with his son on his homework every evening. I watched him feed, love and care for his then 3 year old with very little help from his son’s mother. A year into our dating process, my husband made the very difficult decision to fight for official custody of his son. It was a long, often discouraging battle…because the court system typically favors the mother regardless of the circumstances. Our circumstances were no different. There were many nights filled with tears and frustration. The end result was custody of his son. He currently lives with us, is happy and healthy…living a life full of promise. Special shout out to my better half! 

I’m shouting out all of the successful, Black men out there that are holding down jobs, their households, their children, their wives, their families. Shout out to those Black doctors, the Black lawyers and police officers out there on their LEGAL hustle! LOL! Shout out to the Black fathers who has stepped up and raised their children even in dealing with the most difficult, vindictive women. Our children (especially young men), society, wives, girlfriends and family thank you! You are necessary and very much appreciated! ❤

 

*~Dimpled Sunshine~*