Black Fathers : A Call for Healing

Rating:
Summary: Healing for fathers or for the family as a whole?
Review: In BLACK FATHERS: A CALL FOR HEALING the author emphasizes the importance of the fathers' presence in African American homes, the necessity for the present father to not only have belief and faith in God, but to also pass that faith along to the family, and the necessity for black fathers to develop healthy relationships, independent of the mother, with their kids. The author uses her own relationship with her father to bring home the importance of fathers in the household. She admonishes the absentee father and relays to him how important he is to his family and children. The author expresses that the absence of black fathers strongly contributes to the demise of the black family.

Specifically, the book is about the black family...past, present, and future. The author speculates on the black family's demise, offering opinions on why and how, but pointing to absentee fathers in general as the catapult. What I didn't like about the book was the glaring absence of placid statistics to validate the point of view. I often wondered who the intended audience was. I initially assumed the audience to be absentee fathers, but soon abandoned that thought because the tone was very accusatory, which would alienate the absentee father audience. This is a noteworthy and touching subject in the African American community. BLACK FATHERS: A CALL FOR HEALING is an admirable contribution to the African American plight to reconstruct black families and reunite fathers with their children.

Reviewed by KaTrina Love (MissLove)
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers