Black Girl Dad Week to promote family fun, community conversation
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If you see new father Ernest Levert Jr. around town, chances are his 16-month-old daughter is with him.
"Zamya's with me when I'm doing a workshop, when I'm leading a chess meetup," said Levert Jr., 32, of the East Side, who runs the Royal Oak Initiative, a mentoring nonprofit that uses chess to build community. He also heads the Columbus branch of the Black Men Build community organization.
"I took her to City Hall one day and everyone was like, 'Oh, we definitely knew she was there; she lifted her voice,'" Levert continued. "I love having her out with me. I love everyone in the community seeing her with me. I want my child be very involved. I want to make sure that she learns about the world and she knows that she has a voice."
That type of father-daughter relationship will be celebrated during Black Girl Dad Week, which Levert Jr. plans to attend. The initiative includes a series of events that will take place from Monday to Feb. 19 in Columbus.
The schedule includes free virtual and in-person panels and conversations about supporting Black women and girls’ education, career paths, leadership development and more. There's also a sold-out Black Father Daughter Dance at COSI.
More:Columbus group Black Girl Rising empowers girls with 'love letters'
Guest speakers include award-winning author Kiese Laymon and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, former mayor of Baltimore. Participants must register for individual events at blackgirldadweek.com.
Created by Jewel Woods, clinical director of Male Behavioral Health, and presented in partnership with the Columbus Urban League, the goal of Black Girl Dad Week is to highlight the unique roles Black fathers and father figures play in the lives of Black women and girls.
"I really think that this is an opportunity for the city to really change the narrative about some of the issues and types of stories around Black males," said Woods, who has two daughters and a son.
Columbus Urban League President and CEO Stephanie Hightower agreed.
“This week is really about celebrating the supportive fathers and their impact on their daughters’ self-esteem, academics and life success,” she said. “For years, our Father 2 Father initiative has disproved the fallacy that Black fathers don’t play a critical role in child development and family stability. We’re excited to partner with Male Behavioral Health and Jewel in this effort to create memories that will last a lifetime while showcasing the important father-daughter relationship.”
How can Black fathers support their daughters at school?
In addition to changing narratives, Black Girl Dad Week aims to provide tips for fathers who want to get better at supporting their daughters.
On Tuesday at 6 p.m., Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls will host a conversation on the role fathers play in their daughters' education. Principal Shannon Tucker said it's important to understand the unique issues that Black girls face.
“One is adultification, where they’re seen as older than they are," she said. "(And) being labeled as aggressive, having an attitude, being hard to deal with, hard to approach and hard to teach.”
More:Columbus Council commission provides strategies to improve quality of life for Black girls
Some of Tucker's advice for Black fathers includes getting to know their daughters' teachers and administrators, and making their voices heard. But she is especially interested in hearing directly from dads about obstacles that prevent them from being more involved.
“What are those barriers and challenges that you go through?" Tucker said. "We just want to start that conversation there to see what we can we do to help you.”
Fathers will learn how to nurture their daughters as future entrepreneurs and leaders during the week. For example, on Wednesday at noon, Rawlings-Blake will lead a Zoom discussion, "Madam President: We See You & We Support You," which encourages Black men and boys to advocate for Black women in politics.
Levert, the new father, said he's excited for the opportunity to be part of discussions like this.
"I love how a lot of the country is recognizing the importance of making space for unapologetically Black dialogue," he said. "There's this narrative that Black men aren't involved in the lives of their daughters. There's narratives that Black men are causing a lot of harm. And both of those things may be true to some degree, but I don't think it's healthy or helpful to continue to perpetuate that stereotype unless you're having a constructive dialogue about celebrating what's good and getting nitty-gritty with the solution."
Fostering health, having fun and creating memories
Part of Black Girl Dad Week will involve diving into deep-seated issues with a conversation on "healthy masculinities" led by author Tony Porter and Bishop Timothy Clarke of First Church of God on Columbus' Southeast Side. The event will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Ohio State University's Fawcett Center.
Laymon, the author, will lead "Healing & Reconciliation Day" at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 via Zoom. He will discuss Black parenting and trauma, among the topics covered in his critically acclaimed book, "Heavy: An American Memoir."
As a reprieve from those heavier discussions, Woods included opportunities for families to have fun during the week, too. He is encouraging fathers to take pictures and videos of themselves taking their daughters to work with them on Monday and to school on Tuesday. They can share them on social media using the hashtags #blackgirldadwork and #blackgirldadschool, and submit them to blackgirldadweek.com/gallery.
Other fond memories will be created at the Black Father Daughter Dance on Feb. 18, which excites COSI President and CEO Frederic Bertley, an honorary co-chair of Black Girl Dad Week.
"As a Black man that has a Black daughter, the idea of celebrating, recognizing and elevating the importance of that relationship just resonated with my very DNA," he said. "On top of that, the fact that we can do that in a space that recognizes and loves science for me is an extra layer of goodness."
Woods said he hopes Black boys and men will see that fatherhood is not just about roles and responsibility; it fills one's life with meaning and purpose.
"This unique opportunity that we have as fathers and father figures to raise our children, particularly our daughters, is what life is about."
@miss_ethompson
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Black Girl Dad Week events begin Feb. 13 in Columbus
