Atlanta-Based Fathers Incorporated’s New Report, (The Blueprint) From the Moynihan Institute Addresses 8 Imperative Issues Impacting Black Fathers
ATLANTA (November 19, 2020)— 2020 marks the 55th Anniversary of the controversial 1965 Moynihan Report that argued that accelerating progress against poverty requires strengthening families in the United States—particularly through positively impacting Black men. Almost five decades after the release of the Moynihan Report, analysis of the national data indicates that little progress has been made on the key issues Moynihan identified.
Fathers Incorporated (FI), a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a 16-year history as a nationally recognized fatherhood promotion organization has analyzed these findings and released a report re-examining Moynihan’s results called, The Blueprint: Reimagining the Narrative of the Modern Black Father. Many of the issues he highlighted for Black families are now worse and are prevalent among other families.
The report, stemming from this reimagination, includes an overview of 8 imperative factors that Black fathers and their families face. Its purpose is to be a blueprint to help guide this much-needed conversation for practitioners and corporations alike.
Over the past year, the world has experienced an unveiling. The global pandemic exposed systems of racial inequity in health care, the economy, schools, and technology, among other things. Protests, propelled by George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police officers, exposed glaring cracks in the criminal justice system and highlighted systemic racism. Although these issues are not new, they lay bare the challenges Black families face every day and have faced since the inception of this country. The consequences of these issues are far-reaching and impact generations.
Dr. Matisa Wilbon, a tenured Associate Professor and advisory board member of the institute explains, “The Blueprint argues that, to understand the Black family, one has to unpack the narrow and often stereotypical images and stories bestowed on black fathers by understanding how they fit in a context of systemic inequality.”
Dr. Armon Perry, Professor and Director at the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work, also an advisory board member of the institute continues, “Our research tells us that men who have access to economic resources, who have higher levels of educational attainment, these are men who face fewer barriers as it relates to their ongoing engagement with their children largely because they will live to fulfill their socially prescribed roles as breadwinners.”
“It’s time to set a “new” starting point for examining, understanding, servicing, and promoting Black fatherhood in 2020,” says Fathers Incorporated CEO, Kenneth Braswell. “We believe it begins with “reimagining” – looking at the evolution of Black Dads. The historical impacts that have affected them, their current reality and charting a new “blueprint” for how the “modern” Black dad of today must be viewed, engaged, inspired, strengthened and advanced.”
This past September, Fathers Incorporated’s virtual Town Hall Forum examined the definitions and social reality of fatherhood for Black Fathers. The event, “The Blueprint: Reimagining the Narrative of the Modern Black Father” was streamed on September 29th across several platforms.
Notable speakers for the event included Chris Broussard (Fox Sports Analyst), Kimberly A. Dent (Executive Director, Ohio Commission on Fatherhood), Dr. Jamal Bryant (Pastor, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church), Brandon Frame (Founder & Chief Visionary Officer; TheBlackManCan), Jeffrey R. Gardere, “America’s Psychologist”, Griff (CoHost, Get Up Mornings w/ Erica Campbell), Darrel Young (Manager, Player Engagement and Relations, National Football League) among other leaders.
Download the Moynihan Synopsis by click here. For more information please visit https://www.fathersincorporated.com/ or call 770.804.9800.
