(blackvoicenews.com) As she worked on this year’s Father’s Day special for the Black Voice News, my daughter Regina asked me why I choose to be my children’s father…a question she asked many excellent father’s here in the Inland Empire (see page B-1). Once I started thinking about the question I realize that I didn’t choose…I was chosen…to be this kind of father. I reflect back on my dad Floyd Brown and the community fathers in our little town in Trenton, North Carolina. Those men: Harry Brown, Lee Powell, George Brown, Albert Brown, Tommy Brown, Gus Barber, Walter Jarman Sr., Jimmy “Bowtie” Barber my first cousin and first Black to be elected on the city council in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Eseley Robinson and how they conducted themselves at home and in the community. I remember my father letting me sit in his lap and eat from his plate. He would also let me guide the mules and later sit beside him in driving the car. He taught me how to shoot a twenty two rifle and later a shotgun when he took me out to hunt squirrels. He was my scout leader and then he trained Dewey Strayhorn, his nephew, to be our scoutmaster. He was our Sunday school teacher and encouraged me to teach the smaller children when no teacher was present. He would call on me to lead in church devotion with a song and prayer. Our church, St. Matthew AMEZ, was located behind our house. It still stands there today and was founded by his parents, Jonas and Mary. My father was head of the local Masons and they planned all of the youth activities in town. All of the town Black fathers were leaders in the church and organizations and if they saw me doing something that was not in keeping with Floyd Brown’s standards or values they took care of me and reported the same to him, if you know what I mean. My father was manager of the baseball team his brothers and friends played on. Yes my father was PTA president, and active in the NAACP, Jones County Voters League and when issues needed to be presented before the local government agencies it was my father who was tapped to work out the strategies and present before the agency. My father would get up early in the winter to start the fire to warm up the house for the family. When I got older…more
Engaging the culture by challenging the status quo
