Haben Sie's gewußt? Am letzten Wochenende war Vatertag.
In Amerika jedenfalls, wo es dann natürlich auch "Fathersday" heißt. Und außer dem Datum ist noch etwas anders: Im Land jenseits des Großen Teiches ist dieser Tag kein halbherziger Versuch, die Väter (wegen des Muttertags) auch noch irgendwie auf ihre Hoch-soll'n-se-leben!-Kosten kommen zu lassen.
Die Amerikaner nehmen diesen besonderen Tag im Jahr sehr ernst - was natürlich nicht heißt, dass man nicht zusammen fröhlich und ausgelassen sein kann am Fathersday. Wobei die Betonung unbedingt auf zusammen liegt.
Gerade in der Schwarzen community ist dieser Tag aber auch Anlaß, sich an die eigenen an- oder abwesenden Väter zu erinnern - viele Schwarze Kinder sind "nur" mit Müttern und Großmüttern aufgewachsen - und sich Gedanken darüber zu machen, was es heutzutage bedeutet, ein guter Vater zu sein.
Bei meiner täglichen "Reise" durch die US-News-Blogs und die gesellschaftspolitschen Blogs von Black America habe ich einige schöne Beispiele für diese Vatertags-Tradition gefunden, die ich Ihnen nicht vorhalten will:
7 Out Of 10 Black Americans “Love” Their Dad
News One for Black America
Those numbers might seem surprising given the reportedly bleak state of the Black family in the United States. On Father’s Day last year, then-Senator Barack Obama pointed out the problems:
“If we’re honest with ourselves we’ll admit that too many fathers are … missing. Too many fathers are MIA. Too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They’ve abandoned their responsibilities. They’re acting like boys instead of men, and the foundations of our family have suffered because of it. You and I know this is true everywhere, but nowhere is it more true than in the African-American community.”
Indeed, 56 percent of Black households are headed by single parents, according to data the U.S. Census Bureau collected in 2006. 91 percent of those single parents are mothers. Across all races, there are 18 million children in the U.S. living apart from their fathers, 34 percent of whom told the National Fatherhood Initiative that they don’t know their biological fathers at all.
But even though African-American families are often headed by single mothers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on research that showed that, “African American fathers, more than any other group, are more likely to maintain lasting relationships with their children when they don’t live with them.”
Perhaps that bit of good news, amid all the bad press African-American fathers get, is the reason why 70 percent of African-Americans say they love their dads....
When Fathers Fall Somewhere Between Awesome and Absentee
Black Fatherhood and Black Families: What We Must Do Now
By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD / Black Voices
...At any rate, when my birthday hits, doubled-up with Father's Day, I am led to evaluate my life and myself. I evaluate my life to see if I am the same man this year that I was last year; the truth is that I should have grown in some meaningful way or achieved something positive. I also evaluate myself as a father to see if I am getting at least a little bit better at making myself the kind of man that my kids need me to be.
In round one of fatherhood, I made quite a few mistakes. I had a child at the age of 18, too early to know what the heck I was doing or to afford the massive amounts of child support I would pay for the next 18 years. I always advise young men to think twice before putting themselves in situations where they may be asked to do things they are not able to do. I also learned first hand the challenges of finding space in the life of a child that doesn't live with you: There were barriers built that I tried my best to overcome, and I admit that I have not yet been successful. There's always hope that next year will be better than the last one when it comes to creating those critical connections....
Remembering Pappy
What My Son Taught Me
Neben den sehr persönlichen Erfahrungen mit dem Vater-Sein oder dem "einen-Vater-haben" melden sich auch Soziologen und Pädagogen zu Wort, und Schwarze Männer werden geehrt, die sich nicht nur für ihre eigenen Kinder vorbildlich einsetzen, so wie Steve Harvey mit seiner Stiftung. Die alten Bürgerrechtler wie Reverend Al Sharpton melden sich natürlich auch zu Wort, da sie mit ihrer jahrzehntelangen Erfahrung von "fatherhood in the Black neighbourhood" wohl auch am Besten wissen, was sich geändert hat und welche Entwicklungen dringend anstehen.
The Root Interview: Jeffrey Gardere on Young Men and Fatherhood
This Weekend, Steve Harvey Is Mentoring Boys
Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Boyce Discuss the Plight of the Black Male
Dann werden tatsächlich auch noch ganz besonders coole Dads aus dem Zylinder gezaubert wie Will Smith und Barack Obama, aber wenn Sie sich die Fotogalerie "Devoted Dads" nicht entgehen lassen, dann werden Sie sehen, dass es sehr viele ganz tolle Väter gibt in Black America:
From Essence: Hot Daddies
Video Commentary: Real Dads
GALLERY: Devoted Dads And Their Children | ELEV8
Sogar Gedichte schreiben können die Afro-amerikanischen Männer, wenn es um Fatherhood geht. Schade, dass sich dieser Trend hierzulande noch nicht eingenistet hat.
It’s Somethin’ To Be A Father | ELEV8
How Do We Forgive Our Fathers?
Ganz zum Schluss sollen auch noch die Politiker zu Wort kommen, die stets die gute Gelegenheit nutzen, den Familienoberhäuptern ins Gewissen zu reden:
Paterson Encourages Harlem Fathers To Get Involved With Kids’ Education | News On
By Ashton Lattimore/News One for Black America
“Education is not just for the mothers to be involved in, it’s for the whole family,” said Paterson. He urged fathers and father figures to keep bringing their children to school and stay involved by helping with homework.
Paterson, a Black father himself, also emphasized the need for students to take their studies seriously.
“Whatever your dreams are, whatever you see yourself being when you grow up, you need an education to get there,” he said. “In this terrible economy, it’s a fact that the ones who lost their jobs first are the ones who didn’t get as much education.”
“Education is not just for the mothers to be involved in, it’s for the whole family,” said Paterson. He urged fathers and father figures to keep bringing their children to school and stay involved by helping with homework.
Paterson, a Black father himself, also emphasized the need for students to take their studies seriously.
“Whatever your dreams are, whatever you see yourself being when you grow up, you need an education to get there,” he said. “In this terrible economy, it’s a fact that the ones who lost their jobs first are the ones who didn’t get as much education.”
Attorney General Holder Calls On Black Fathers To Take Responsibility | News One
Holder, a Queens native and the first black Attorney General, urged the 400 worshippers at the Memorial Presbyterian Church on Baldwin Turnpike in Queens, N.Y., to orchestrate a “spiritual awakening,” according to the New York newspaper. The Attorney General said a father’s involvement in a family can help combat poverty and crime in black neighborhoods, according to Newsday.
“Too many men in the black community have created children and left them to be raised by caring mothers. These women do a wonderful job, but we ask too much of them and too little of our men,” Holder told the congregation, which included members of his family, according to Newsday. “It should simply be unacceptable for a man to have a child and then not play an integral part in the raising and nurturing of the child.”
Obama's Fatherhood.gov Commercial: Too Feminine for Black Men?
Obama Unveils Fatherhood, Mentoring Initiative
President Barack Obama’s 2009 Father’s Day Message
Obama On Father’s Day: “Time To Honor The Men Who Raised Us”
News One for Black America
In this year’s Father’s Day proclamation, the president pays tribute not just to biological dads, but to foster and adoptive fathers as well as men who make “compassionate commitments outside the home by serving as mentors, tutors, or big brothers to young people in their community.” He also tips his hat to non-traditional households....
Barack Obama's Kids, Father's Day and Black Economics
Michelle Obama’s Salutes Fathers with Courage to Step-Up
VIDEO: Obama Tells Dads They “Don’t Need To Be Superheroes”
Noch ein bisschen Sommerlektüre, weil's schön war mit den tollen Vätern?
"In My Father's House,'' Novel By The Late E. Lynn Harris Is A Summer Scorcher
FOTOS: DANKE! THANK YOU!
Flickr
CG2_SoulArtist
lucienphoto
Thank you ever so much, Luke! I just couln't resist!
AOL/Black Voices/Dr. Boyce Watkins
The White House
News One for Black America (Obamas)
....
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