becoming a man
despite a childhood of perhaps a fatherless home
where disconsolate black fathers who couldn’t or wouldn’t
pick up their cross abandoned their families
& children leaving them on worn out linoleum
With no cherished memories or care
finally
In praise & remembrance of black fathers everywhere
proud deep root men who didn’t maim
didn’t punch or hit
didn’t hurt
or didn’t blacken the eyes of their wives
frightening the children
drunk
or drugged unable to handle their own feelings of inadequacy
worn like a stop sign in front of the sad sorry mess they made of their own lives
but in the everywhere yesterday i must ask black fathers
if you could turn back time and attend to opportunities lost
would you have paid more attention
to those brother uncle cousin clan & neighborhood fathers
that left history stained by marks of dread & puzzle piece infernos of pain
would you have paid more attention and blocked those fathers
by offering alternative paths where pain didn’t interrupt growth
& keep children from languishing in a security of love & teddy bear dreams
In praise & remembrance of black fathers everywhere
that laughed when the sky was falling
that nurtured their children even when and if the cupboards were empty
and never had anything leftover to barter or share
in praise & remembrance of black fathers everywhere
black fathers that took common sense mother wit wisdom
sweat & flair to conquer fear
to make it possible to stand up black to sing
still here
still here
still here
By Arthur Theodore Wilson, June 19, 2011
For the Father’s Day Program
First Baptist Church of Cranford, New Jersey
Copyright Dance Giant Steps, Inc.
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All rights reserved (c) Dale Shields
iforcolor
LINKS
http://playwrightstheatreofnewjersey.blogspot.com/2011/10/25th-anniversary-gala-photos.html
http://arthurtwilson.com/uploads/2/8/8/3/2883978/arthur_wilson_educationcareer.pdf