Dwyane Wade and more support the 'This Is Fatherhood' challenge, aimed at inspiring young fathers
The challenge is a contest that focuses on young fathers who may need extra encouragement and guidance to become better parents. Partners in the initiative hope to promote and nurture fatherhood among these men in creative ways.
President Obama: Inspiration for young dads
President Obama’s Chicago speech on February 16 on gun violence was particularly inspiring to the challenge organizers as it relates to this cause.
“There are entire neighborhoods where young people, they don’t see an example of somebody succeeding,” the president said in that speech. “And for a lot of young boys and young men, in particular, they don’t see an example of fathers or grandfathers, uncles, who are in a position to support families and be held up and respected.”
Without role models, young men are more likely to engage in illegal activities, while men who see themselves as role models are less likely to engage in illegal behavior. A 2002 Department of Justice survey showed that 44 percent of all inmates grew up in a single parent household and that 20 percent had a father who was imprisoned. A Bureau of Justice study states that only 44 percent of inmates with children were living with them prior to their incarceration.
Men bonding to promote fatherhood
Images of Wade, Lecrae, and President Obama appear in a PSA featuring Joaquin Zihuantanejo, an international poetry slam champion, explaining the This Is Fatherhood challenge and its call for creative works dedicated to fatherhood.
Partners of the challenge have similarly used creative outlets to promote fatherhood, as challenge participants are invited to do.
Boston rapper Ed O.G, whose song “Be A Father To Your Child” still stands today as one of hip-hop’s strongest odes to fatherhood, and Tray Chaney, who played Poot on The Wire and has had his rap video “Fatherhood” played on BET, have joined fellow rapper Lecrae in a show of support. By offering guidance and musical assistance to the winners of the challenge, these men hope to encourage entries and positive parenting.
Joining the This Is Fatherhood challenge
Eugene Schneeberg, the Director of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for the Department of Justice, also helped facilitate the This Is Fatherhood challenge. Schneeberg worked with DuBois on the president’s fatherhood program when DuBois was still with the Obama administration. Schneeberg continues to work on the president’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative.
To Schneeberg, this is more than just another positive project.
“For me the issue of father absence is personal and professional,” Schneeberg, also one of the challenge judges, told theGrio. “I’ve never met my father, I’m a father of three and every day I have the honor of working on President Obama’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative. I am encouraged to see such a diverse set of groups and individuals throwing their support behind this critically important issue.”
To learn more about the This Is Fatherhood challenge, go to www.thisisfatherhood.com. Submissions are due June 10.
Follow Casey Gane–McCalla on Twitter at @CaseyGane
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