Dear Life

“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”

“We need fathers to realize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception. That doesn’t just make you a father. What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”

“I know the toll it took on me, not having a father in the house, the hole in your heart when you don’t have a male figure in the home who can guide you and lead you. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my children.”

These quotes are from Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama.

The african american male is slowly dying. More than just an "endangered species" as I once referred to us, we are an invisible/forgotten species. We have given society plenty reason to denounce our entire presence. The african american male was once seen as an impervious figure with unlimited potential and purpose. Somewhere in the mix of the world and its material things, we fell into a box and continue to hold ourselves captive against the expense of stepping up and doing what it takes.

My heart longs for a great awakening within our communities with the men, our women have carried the load for far too long. Have I all the answers, most certainly not? Yet I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring us back to relevance. Whether you choose to accept responsiblity or not, our community is denied progress everytime we make an excuse not to try and our children are set back that much farther everytime we refuse to fight. This problem did not arise today, and it will not be fixed tomorrow however, it is ever present and must be dealt with.

Rob Hill