By Denise Turney
Two people, Joslyn Vanderpool and Anita Royston, got together and decided to canvas the country in search of true stories about the courage, the strength, the love, the insight and the compassion of Black men, our fathers, our brothers, uncles, husbands and cousins.
The outcome of their efforts is “Our Black Fathers: Brave, Bold and Beautiful”. It’s the first of a series of books that celebrate the richness and the diversity of Black life.
The book’s stories inspire, empower, enlighten and recount personal histories of the forgotten, unknown and unacknowledged. It is true as the women who pulled the stories together state. “As storytellers and keepers of the gate, our role is to unleash our truths and preserve our stories for posterity.”
Reading “Our Black Fathers: Brave, Bold and Beautiful” from Lee Downing’s story about the way his father had with horses and how that love transformed his own life to Dr. Jerome McGhee speaking about his father, will move your heart. You will appreciate the loving things your father did and said.
Happily several of the stories are written by men who reflect on the love and guidance their own father’s gave to them. You will see that just as you loved your own father, other sons and daughters love their fathers too, creating a circle of love, hope and happiness around our community, around us all.
The thirty to fifty stories in the book tear down the wrongful teaching that Black men are not there for their families, do not love their children enough to be present.
You will feel this love that these Black fathers have for their children while you rea d the different personal recollections.
Its stories can encourage new father to exercise the courage to stay and be present, with love, in their young child’s life.
The voices in the stories can speak to women and encourage them to “choose well” when they date and whether they know it at the time or not, begin to pick the very men who will be the fathers for the next generation.
This is a collector’s book, a series of stories no one should forget and ones that readers will be gifted to come to know.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Visit Denise online at
www.chistell.com. Read excerpts from Denise’s two new books online FREE by e-mailing soulfar@aol.com with “Request New Free Excerpts” in the subject line.
