Book Recommendation | Fathers We Need You

When I discovered the National Fatherhood Initiative website for the first time two years ago, their tagline - "Fathers Change the World One Child at a Time" -- caught my attention and impressed me so that I began visiting their website each June, just in time for Father's Day. Due to growth, the website has gone through some changes because the tagline I liked so much is no longer there. Still when one surfs that site, it is very clear the overall mission and purpose of this organization to offer training, resources, support and information to all fathers and father-figures remains the same.

As you know there is more than enough attention placed on "dead-beat" dads and the impact fatherless homes have on the lives and well being of children in this country. But thanks to National Fatherhood Initiative and other organizations like them who make it a point to show the positive impact men are having and making in the lives of their children, I've noticed every effort is being made to celebrate and honor those fathers who are involved and committed to the day-to-day care of their children and their families today. So this month we recommend books that present a variety of perspectives on fatherhood - past and present. But more importantly, these titles simply prove how much - Fathers We Need You!

Daughters of Men: Portraits of African-American Women and their Fathers  
Rachel Vassel
Amistad, October 2007
$27.95 US; ISBN: 0061350354
Official Website

In Daughters of Men, author Rachel Vassel has compiled dozens of stunning photographs and compelling personal essays about African-American women and their fathers. Whether it's a father who mentors his daughter's artistic eye by taking her to cultural events or one who unwaveringly supports a risky career move, the fathers in this book each had his own unique and successful style of parenting. The first book to showcase the importance of the black father's impact on the accomplishments of his daughter, Daughters of Men provides an intimate look at black fatherhood and the many ways fathers have a lasting impact on their daughters' lives.

POP: A Celebration of Black Fatherhood
Carol Ross
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, March 1, 2007
$29.95 US; ISBN: 1584795980
Official Website

In 51 visually stunning, emotionally compelling portraits, acclaimed photographer Carol Ross presents a hopeful, heartwarming, and caring view of black fatherhood in the United States. In an era that pays little positive attention to black fathers, Ross's inspirational perspective on the relationships between black men and their children is vitally important-and long overdue.

The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Spiegel & Garu, 2008
$22.95 US; ISBN: 0385520362

Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacey and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. The Beautiful Struggle follows their divergent paths through this turbulent period, and their father's steadfast efforts—assisted by mothers, teachers, and a body of myths, histories, and rituals conjured from the past to meet the needs of a troubled present—to keep them whole in a world that seemed bent on their destruction. With a remarkable ability to reimagine both the lost world of his father's generation and the terrors and wonders of his own youth, Coates offers readers a small and beautiful epic about boys trying to become men in black America and beyond.

Black Fathers: A Call for Healing
Kristin Clark Taylor
Doubleday, May 2003  
$22.95 US; ISBN: 0385502494

Our fathers of yesterday–and the countless, faceless fathers of today who too often go unnoticed and unappreciated–are the reason we need to rejoice. These strong black men were and are the backbone of the family unit, holding things together as the stress and strain of daily life does all it can to stretch and tear apart the fabric of our family lives. These are the men we celebrate. These are the fathers we thank.

My Soul To His Spirit: Soulful Expressions From Black Daughters To Their Fathers
Melda Beaty (Editor)
Souldictates Pub, May 2005
$19.95; ISBN: 0976562413

Finally, a book that helps all women understand their relationships with men

The Pursuit of Happyness
Chris Gardner
Amistad, May 2006
$23.95 US; ISBN: 0060744863

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street. This is more than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

The Shirt Off His Back: A Novel
Parry Ebony Satin Brown
One World/Ballantine, 2005
$6.99 US: ISBN: 0345491246

In this debut, originally self-published and one of the first works in the new Striver's Row imprint, a devoted single father must fight to keep his twin daughters when his ex-wife breezes back in town and demands custody of them.

The First Part Last
Angela Johnson
Simone Pulse, 2004
$5.99 US; ISBN: 0689849230

Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing.

Daddy's Girl
Breena Jacobs, Neva Austrew (Illustrator)
Bookworm Books  
$15.95 US; ISBN: 0974942324

Illuminating the special relationship between fathers and daughters, this rhyming storybook contains colorful illustrations that capture the intimate moments of a day in the life of a father and daughterfrom helping each other prepare for the day and commuting to school to bonding over dinner and getting ready for bed. The child-parent theme of family connection makes this a perfect story for adults to read to toddlers or for young readers to enjoy on their own.

Kevin and His Dad
Irene Smalls, Michael Hays (Illustrator)
Little Brown  
$16.99 US; ISBN: 0316798991

Kevin feels excitement, pride, pleasure, and love as he spends an entire day working and playing with his father.