Fathers are the most important leaders in a child’s, particularly a young man’s, life. Through our fathers, we as young men receive self-identity, vision for our lives, and ultimate purpose for our lives. Life is a full-contact sport! Our fathers serve as head coaches within our lives identifying our gifts, talents, strengths and weaknesses and empower us accordingly teaching and developing us into dominant players and leaders within the intense and competitive game of life.
Our fathers are the ones who possess the wisdom, power and authority to develop us into men and train us to empower others around us. A positive dad can impact our leadership potential helping us to achieve a greater level of success.
Also, fathers serve as our protectors, shielding us from the hard hits and tackles of life hinder, and ultimately abort, our purpose in life. Also, they protect us from the unfair referees of life who refuse to call/officiate the intense, unfair, and competitive full contact game of life; more prominent in the lives of Black youth. Our fathers, use their power and authority to challenge the corrupt and unfair officiating and hold others accountable thereby forcing them to call the game of life fairly; protecting us from the penalties and flagrant fouls that life hits and tackles us with prematurely.
Fathers firmly establish a foundation in our lives and build and develop us into productive, successful and prosperous men. Sadly, without this foundation we are left open and vulnerable to the relentless attacks, economic and educational hard hits and tackles of life long before we are strong enough to sustain, manage, avoid and survive them.
As a result, we are killed prematurely in the streets in staggering proportions by people that look like us as a direct result of the strong and deep anger and frustration that comes from the absence of our fathers’ presence. The inevitable lack of self-identity, value and purpose that comes with his absence is felt in very profound ways. Hence, making us more susceptible to poverty, poor education, substance abuse and mass incarceration, as well as, perpetuating a powerful and endless cycle of hopelessness within our family line and community.
Also, as Black men and boys we find ourselves victims of police brutality and corrupt law enforcement officers within our community. Sadly, our communities offer us an abundance of opportunities to pursue a life in crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, violence, death, poverty, poor education etc. which leads to premature death and mass incarceration of far too many young Black men and boys.
The presence of a strong father figure within our lives can positively change the trajectory of our lives. It drastically set us on a path of successfully achieving abundant prosperity economically, educationally and in all other areas of our lives as well. One choice to break the generational cycle of fatherlessness is so powerful that it can change the course of your life and that of our children. Thus, set them on a more positive course of generational cycles of prosperity in all areas of your lives.
My son TJ is a living example of this truth. My decision to break the generational cycle of fatherlessness changes the trajectory and final outcome of his life and set him on a course of prospering abundantly in all areas of his life. In doing so, I have purposely set in place a positive generational cycle within his life to replace the negative cycle I inherited from my absent and negligent father.
In addition, fathers possess the power to be the authors of their son’s life story. Again, my presence in my son TJ’s life is evidence of this truth. As the author of his biography and life story, I used my power and authority to write his life story and when necessary I edited the mistakes,
failures and disadvantages that he has encountered and inherited in life and caused them to work together for his good. It will contribute to the development, production and publishing of his life as a powerful and present father for my future grandchildren.
I have been able to do so because we share a personal and intimate father and son relationship of love together. Sadly, far too many young Black boys in our community lack this kind of relationship with their father which has led to the problems of crime, death, addiction, poverty, poor education, mass incarceration, etc. within our community today.
Therefore, it is so vitally important for us to break the generational cycle of fatherlessness within our community. In doing so, we will successfully solve all the problems that plague our community and lives overall.
However, sadly, because most of us don’t have strong and healthy relationships with our natural and biological Fathers, this same pattern is reflected in all of our relationships.
Thankfully, that can change today. We must use our stories and lives as models and blueprints for our children to follow to develop strong, healthy relationships with children and our women.
In doing so, we will successfully break the generational cycle of fatherlessness within your family and our community and can ultimately reap the deliverance, healing, empowerment and benefits of your decision to break this dreadful cycle of fatherlessness within our lives, family and community. This will be the absolute best decision we can make. More importantly, our decision to do so, will lead to countless others being impacted by our leadership. We can and must break the generational cycle of fatherlessness within their families and overall community if we, as men, are to elevate our people out of the despair and sense of nihilism that continues to plague our collective communities throughout this nation.
