By Denise Turney

Rey Flemings, Stephon Alexander, Tyler Perry, Curley M. Dossman, Jr., Dr. Howard Rasheed and Milton Jones are just a few of the many positive Black men in America. These men do more than start businesses, lead their families and promote forward thinking in others. They also mentor other males, particularly youth, helping to inspire and motivate them toward rewarding adulthoods.

Positive black men like Rey Flemings, owner of Stripple, employ  their talents to capture every day as well as uncommonly seen events. Milton Jones and Dr. Howard Rasheed develop educational as well as mentoring programs through 100 Black Men of America, an empowering organization that launched in New York in 1963.

Work that these and other men, like Tyler Perry and Curley Dossman, Jr. perform has made its way into the media, gaining the attention of the masses. However, there are many positive African American males who never get spotlighted in  local or national media outlets. It’s these positive Black men who do the inner work to strengthen their marriages, improve the communications they share with their children, study with their offspring, contribute to communities they reside in, etc.

Some positive African American males raise children single handedly after the mothers of their children pass or after they experience a divorce. Daily responsibilities they perform include cooking meals, checking homework, bathing and dressing their infant children, transporting their children to school, attending school events, carving out time to have fun with their young children an hour or more a day, including taking their children with them to sporting events, museums, etc. Positive Black men fulfill these and other responsibilities while balancing full-time jobs.

It’s these images, the stories of these men, that teens need to hear about, images that smash at negative depictions of men. As these real life images get more exposure, people won’t look on in shock when they hear about positive African American males who are finding ways to empower themselves, their families and communities every single day. These men are out here, everywhere — it’s just that so few people take the time to notice or spotlight them and the great things they do. 

As other men commit to doing, Raymond Clarke’s father raises a child alone, yet he has inner issues to deal with that he refuses to face until late. He loves his son, but struggles to balance sharp inner conflicts. Some fathers, from all cultures, struggle to find balance within themselves. The good news is that when they do, they offer positive contributions to society and  . . . to their sons. Support men who are like Raymond’s father receive from organizations like 100 Black Men in America, the National Organization for Men, Positive Men’s Organization, Men’s Health Network, Boys to Men Foundation and The Good Men Project could help them become even better fathers and contributors to society.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://blackmanoftheday.com/

http://www.100blackmen.org/education.aspx