"Our Families, Our Communities "

Our Families, Our Communities is an internet radio talk show which brings the issues of African American communities; parenting, family structure, youth, education, violence, employment and various other topics to the forefront for discussion and proactive resolution. We encourage everyone to join us each week as we discuss these issues with family/community organization directors, activists, educators, public officials and authors with a mission to pursue positive change within African American communities.

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This Week's Show - "Black Fatherhood"

This week's topic on "Our Families, Our Communities" is Black Fatherhood. We discuss the state of Black fatherhood today with featured guests George L. Garrow, Jr., Esq., -Executive Director of Concerned Black Men - National Organization and Derek Phillips, Founder and Executive Director of Real Dads Network.

This topic is a two part series. Part 2 will air next week with featured guests Damon Harris of The Virginia Father Integration Services and Gregory Williams, author of "Brotherwood".

Click here to listen to "Our Families, Our Communities"- Black Fatherhood - Part 1.

Our Featured Guest - George Garrow, Jr. Esq.

GEORGE L. GARROW, JR., ESQ.

Mr. Garrow currently is Executive Director of the National Organization of Concerned Black Men, Inc. (CBM).

He has been associated with CBM for more than two (2) decades, beginning in 1982 when he became a co-founding member of the Washington, DC chapter. Mr. Garrow and other committed members of the National Organization have assisted African American men in 29 U. S. cities to begin CBM chapters. Men in these communities now mentor, tutor and provide various enrichment programs to thousands of children of all ages. Under his leadership, the National Organization has developed “best practice” programs --- sustainable, high quality school-based youth initiatives that can be reproduced by CBM local chapters and other community based organizations. After-school tutoring and teen pregnancy programs, as well as parent literacy and self improvement projects, are a few of the model efforts created during Mr. Garrow’s leadership.

Mr. Garrow has played a major role in the development of CBM’s Young Males of Color Achievement Initiative, a plan to raise the educational attainment of young boys of color and increase high school graduation rates. The Initiative is a new CBM led effort that will challenge existing educational systems and public policy around the funding of education for low income African American children.

Mr. Garrow is vice chair of the Board of the DC Children’s Trust Fund, a child abuse and neglect public education group for the Nation’s Capital. He is a founding board member of the Male Advocacy Network and an advisory member of the Institute for Mental Health Initiatives (IMHI) of the George Washington University’s School of Public Health.

Because of his community work with youths, Mr. Garrow received the 2001 Advocate of the Year award from the National Coalition of Prison Ministries. He appears regularly as a commentator on local and national media on issues affecting children.

In addition to his work with CBM, Mr. Garrow is a trial attorney with the firm Garrow & Evans in Washington, DC. He received his JD degree from the University of Virginia Law School and an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College.

Our Featured Guest - Derek Phillips

DEREK PHILLIPS


An educator by profession, Derek has been teaching Math and History in the New York City School System for over thirteen years. For the majority of his career, Derek has worked in the alternative schools with students that have been labeled “At Risk”. He loves teaching and truly believes that he has made a difference and has been blessed to be working with the population of students he has had.

In April 2004, Derek was honored as the “Educator of the Year”, by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

In addition, he is the founder and Executive Director of the Real Dads Network, an organization of Dads, father figures, male role models and people committed to strengthening the institution of Black fatherhood. In 2005, The Real Dads Network, hosted its inaugural Black Fatherhood Summit, moderated the legendary James Mtume, and included a panel that consisted of Kurtis Blow-one of the first rappers to have a hit record ("The Breaks") in 1980; Barry Mayo, Senior Vice President and station manager of Kiss FM; Bill Stephney, co-founder of Def Jam Records and the group Public Enemy; Nation’s of Islam’s Min. Kevin Muhammad; Fatyn Muhammad, producer of Kiss FM’s Open Line talk show; and Fatherhood Activists Thabiti Boone and Peter Holoman. This event received a full- length commentary in the Wall Street Journal.

Derek is also the founder and President of Jorma Productions, an independent production company, (affectionately named after his two daughters) that is committed to creating projects and programs that are educational, inspiring and empowering.

Spot Light Resource of the Week

This week's "Spot Light Resource of the Week" is the documentary "Real Dads: Black Men on Fatherhood" directed by Derek Phillips & Nikki Dees with narration by Ossie Davis.

Real Dads is a contemporary thought provoking documentary that explores fatherhood through the eyes of a group that is often not given credit - Positive Black Men.

Black fathers have been maligned both in contemporary media and popular culture. They are being grossly depicted as absent, "deadbeats" or "invisible". The reality is, there are many Black fathers who have made the choice to be present and actively involved in their children's lives.

This documentary paints a realistic picture of the multi-faceted Black male. It is the image that our children and America should see.

"Real Dads: Black Men on Fatherhood" won the 2003 Audience Award at the Spaghetti Junction Urban Film Festival. Click here to obtain your copy of

"Real Dads: Black Men on Fatherhood"

The Legacy of Black Fatherhood

Some write and speak on the importance of embracing the historical contributions and legacies of our ancestors who were enslaved because of the significant role they played in shaping American society and culture. They emphasize the need of knowing where we come from in order to plant a stronger foot on the path to our future. However, few of us embrace the historical examples and legacies of family structure and life as set by our ancestors; in particular our male ancestors.

Despite the images of enslaved Black men, depicted in history books as lazy, cowardice beings; they were loving, nurturing and protective fathers. There are several periodicals and resources written by enslaved men and women as well as a collection of voice recorded interviews with former slaves which serve as testimonials of the true make up of the enslaved family and their communities. More importantly the positive images set forth by Black fathers of this era. They were known to sacrifice their lives and limbs for their children with the same compassion and love as enslaved women.

"Researchers acknowledge the business acumen of enslaved Black men. Their research shed light on the slave owners who acknowledged this as well. There are documented accounts of business transactions of enslaved men; how they brokered for land, bought their relatives freedom and made decisions which benefited their families’ future. My great-great-great grandfather Frank Cooper was an astute enslaved businessman. Although he was responsible for driving his owner, he was also a Minister who later organized and founded five churches.

The founding of these five churches led to the Frank Cooper Missionary Baptist Association. My family’s first church, McCanaan Missionary Baptist Church was built in 1875 in Sardis, Georgia, Burke County. This area was known as “Cooper Hill” named after my family. Unfortunately the original church was destroyed by fire in the early 1890’s and reconstructed in 1912. According to researchers, the church was more than likely burned down by klansmen. Today, this church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural design. He rebuilt the church on his property, over 340 acres, where he raised his twelve children and tended to his farm. My family still owns and farms on this land today. The land includes a family cemetery where several generations of my ancestors rest.

Black men during this era were dehumanized, humiliated and oppressed; however it did not deter them from being nurturing, loving, fathers, caretakers and entrepreneurs. They were able to rise above the social system set against them by pulling on their inner strength and love for their families. Even though some inevitably fell prey to the institution of slavery, there are more than enough documented stories and recorded family histories which evidence the significant and prominent role of Black fathers. These men were able to overcome
the adversities of the institution of slavery on the strength of their family; leaving us a legacy to reconnect with. "

The above is an excerpt from my book, "Black Fatherhood: Reconnecting With Our Legacy."
My main goal in writing this book and accompanying documentary was to show despite mounds of derogatory statistics about Black men in their roles as fathers, there is a strong legacy of Black men (from their time of enslavement to present) who were and presently are proactive fathers. In order to reconnect with this legacy, we must first unmask the many extraneous circumstances Black fathers face. Then we can clearly explore and define what we can do to overcome these circumstances and keep the legacy alive and positive for future generations of Black fathers.

Via our website www.purequality.com you can view the trailer of the documentary, obtain more information about the book and utilize the various resources for fathers.