Editor’s Note: The following columns are from MC 225-Mass Media Writing class taught by Dr. Sharon Ford-Dunn.
FATHER’S DAY
Some people may say what is Fathers day? How was it started, or where did it come from?
Father’s day is a day celebrating fatherhood and parental bonds and the influence of fathers in society. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in many countries and on other days elsewhere.
It complements Mother’s Day, the celebration honoring mothers. Some people would say that fathers day is not as important as mother’s day but I would say different I think it is just as important because there are some good fathers that need some praise and appreciation.
The fathers day history starts back Father’s Day is a celebration of fatherhood or male parenting is celebrated through a day of dining, or through family oriented activities.
Where did Fathers day come from? Well the first time it was celebrated was back in Fairmont, West Virginia in July 5, 1908 and was organized by Grace Golden Clayton who wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 mining workers who lost their lives in a mining disaster.
Although she was the first to start it the credit did not go to her, it all went to a person who did it two years later by the name of Sonora Dodd she came up wither the day to complement mother’s day, but also after listening to a church sermon about mothers day she wanted to start something for the great fathers around the world like her father William Smart, a civil war veteran who raised his family by himself when she was just a teenager. With the help of her pastor and the ministry they decided on that on her father’s birthday that was the day to honor all fathers, she also suggested that people should wear roses red for a father that’s living and white for the ones that are deceased.
While mother’s day was increasing in popularity more and more Father’s day was almost forgotten completely some people even met the day with laughter saying that it was not a real holiday.
There were two attempts to make the day official by presidents Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge but were denied by congress later on the Maine senator Maraget Chase Smith wrote a letter to congress saying that they have been singling out father s and celebrating mother when it takes two to raise a child or family.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the first to issue a proclamation honor fathers and had the day on the third Sunday of June and officially called it Father’s Day. Six years later the day was officially permanent by Richard Nixon when he signed it into law in 1972.
Father’s day is a wonderful day celebrating all the great male parents we have it is not just about the mother’s doing their job we also have great upstanding men who are willing to put everything on the line for their family and those men deserve every bit of that appreciation, and if you are one of those men I appreciate everything you do fro your family and keep up the good work.
Charles White is a junior mass communication major from Ruston.
Father’s Day
Fathers Day should be a joyous holiday just like Mothers Day, but I do not celebrate this holiday because growing up I didn’t really have a father.
I can say my father was in part of my life, but is a fade away memory. All I can say is that I will be a better father than my father was.
I will be in my children’s lives whether the mother or I are together or not. If I have any kids, I would prefer to have two boys, no girls, I’m just not ready to have any girls. I will go to every activity my children are involved in no matter what activity it is, no matter how big or how small the activity they attend. I will teach my children to respect themselves, respect others, and most important of all respect women. I will teach my children how to become a man if I have two boys.
If I have a girl I will try to do everything in my power to teach her how to respect herself as a woman. I know I can’t teach her how to be a woman but, I sure can teach how to have boys respect her. If I were a father, I’d give my children the world if I could, but I will not spoil them. I will teach them how to be responsible.
I will stress the importance of school because growing up I had that lesson stressed to me. I also will stress the importance of school because I know a lot of kids that do not have this importance of school and because of this they are not able to get into the college they would like to or have to get a job at Mc Donald’s or Burger King.
Now my children will live in the white neighbors but I will take them the projects. I feel that they need to experience the project6s because I experienced the projects. I look at it as a learning experience because once they get a look at the projects and see how people have to live in the projects they will strive to better in school so that neither they nor their family would have to live and be in that predicament.
My children will be able to go to any college in the world but if they want me to pay for it they will have to attend Grambling State University. They will have to attend this college if they want me to pay for it because those are the same words my mother spoke to me. I didn’t realize what she meant until I actually came to Grambling. I also say this because I want my children to attend Grambling so that maybe just maybe it will become a tradition in my family that we all attend Grambling State University.
Millidge Barnes is a sohomore mass communication major from San Bernardino, Calif.
FATHER’S DAY
What is a father? The dictionary tells us father means a male parent, stepfather, or adoptive father. In the African American community this is the role most fathers play, just the male parent.
Fathers in the black community are often seen as dead beats, irresponsible, and sometimes as extreme as just a sperm donor. Absent fathers have shown to have great effects on the children and the mothers.
To me a father is someone who is supposed to be the backbone of the family. He is there for financial support, strength, security, and is supposed to be someone to be looked up to.
With this figure being absent from the home, a great deal of stress is placed upon the family. Resentment and anger can also be displayed from the abandoned children and mothers. The most common reasons for this absence is prison, and just not wanting to be there and except their responsibility. By them not stepping up and accepting their responsibility as men causes stress to the entire family.
According to an online article by James Holder 1 in 3 black men will have a prison record in their lifetime. He states that black men are 6 times more likely to go to jail than a white man and currently almost 1 million black men are in prison.
This is a problem! If the birth rates are up, which is a problem within its self, and the prison rates are up, this means only more unaccounted for fathers.
I myself have been affected by this epidemic, having to deal with the fact that my father was in prison most of my life. I can remember being very young and my father being driven away in a police car. As a child this is a feeling that is indescribable.
The father figure who was supposed to supply comfort, lessons of life, financial stability, and that father-son relationship that I was deprived of chose to make the wrong decisions and ended up in prison for nearly 10 years.
Growing up I did not have a strong male figure in my life, which caused me to rebel in some ways. My mother tried as much as she could to keep my brother and I under control. There was just so much she could have done without that strong male figure in the household.
I have noticed a strong since of resentment and anger that has built up in my mother because of my father’s absence. I really cannot blame her. I find myself having anger and dislike towards him also.
My father was released from prison a few days before I graduated from high school. He tried to pick up where he left off, and this, so far has not gone to well.
To me, my father is just what the definition that the dictionary gives to me, a male parent. My mother played duel roles. She was the mother and the father. And on Father’s Day I will celebrate with her, because I cannot ever recall celebrating this day with my “father”.
Keith Robinson is a sophomore mass communication major from Abberville.
FATHER’S DAY
One Sunday in May everybody celebrates that one (maybe two) special person in their life that was there for them at the beginning of their existence, Mother’s Day. We shower them with our gifts of appreciation to show how much we really care about them. But in the next month of June, a certain Sunday for another “special” individual does not get as much praise, Father’s day. Some fathers get a card and candy at the most.
Sometimes sending a “Happy Father’s Day” text message would be asking someone to pull out their own teeth. But why is that? Some people would say “My mother IS my father” or “I don’t car, it’s just another day”, but why is it like that? Aren’t fathers the reason why we are here today? Our mothers could not do it all by their selves right? So how come the male figure don’t get as much respect as the female figure?
What is the definition of a father anyway? One friend of mine would describe it as able to perform the task or duties of a male parent. Hmmm. So can a mother take on the “responsibilities” that a father have? The answer to that question: yes and no.
Don’t get me wrong, there are mothers that have been able to juggle both roles, but some things a women just can’t teach. I love my mother to death but it’s certain things she can’t teach me because it needs to come from a male perspective.
I haven’t really taken the time to really think about what my father meant to me, but doing so in this article, I’m reminded that Father’s day is not just for your actual blood father. Earlier this week I held a conversation with Amber Smith from Atlanta, Georgia. She attends Gordon College and studying in business. We talked about different topics and happen to fall into talking about father’s day. I asked her how do you feel about father’s day? She says “To me it is just another day. But I know that it is a day to honor and show love to father’s and all they do. So I try to make sure I let the men who have played a fatherly role in my life how much I love and appreciate them.” After hearing that I began to believe that anybody can be a “father figure” without actually being a father.
My father personally have done things for me seen an unseen. He has made a lot of sacrifices for his family and still to till this day. Watching him take his journey inspires me to be more and more like him. Loving, caring, purpose driven life. My other role model was my father’s twin brother.
Eric cummings is a junior mass communication major from Chicago.
Father’s Day
Father’s Day is a celebration of fatherhood, paternal bonds, and parental relationships in the world or society. It is celebrated on the third Sunday in June in most countries and usually involves the giving of gifts, a dinner, or any other family activities honoring the special day.
Father’s Day was first initiated on June 19, 1910 and has continued to be celebrated for over a hundred years. It honors all fathers, father figures such as mentors, ministers, or just a man you look up to for advice or friendship.
To some people Father’s Day is a special day for families and is highly favored; however, in my neighborhood it was just another day in the city. Most of the kids around either had a father but they did not know him or they knew their father but did not have a good relationship with him, therefore nobody really celebrated this day.
In my household we never bought my dad anything because we did not think Father’s Day was important. My dad did not even celebrate this holiday which also made it non-existent to my family.
Even though my parents are back together now, growing up my dad was not around that much which made Father’s Day more irrelevant to me. On the other hand, I know some people who celebrate Father’s Day as if it were almost Christmas or something.
My best friend is almost the only girl I know who has a wonderful relationship with her dad. She told me every year they have a big dinner for all the fathers in her family and she always gets her father a card or a gift. There were also other kids in school growing up who actually celebrated Father’s Day like an extravagant holiday, but I never experienced the greatness of it.
Although I do not really have a distinctive bond with my dad, when I become a father I want to be close to my kids. I want my relationship with my children to be better than what I had with my dad. I think that I will be a good dad and I want the best for my children. I want them to have more than I did growing up and I hope I can give it to them.
In the future, I want to celebrate Father’s day and I hope my kids show me how much they appreciate the things that I do for them. I do not expect an outrageous gift but just a simple “Happy Father’s Day” is all that matters to me.
Jermoine Lewis is a sophomore mass communication major from Darrow.
Father’s Day
Every year, we get a chance to honor and celebrate our fathers. Father’s day allows us to reflect on the most important man in a child’s life; their, daddy, dad, or whatever affectionate term they choose to use. Fathers who take an active role in their child’s life are helping to create a stable foundation for their children. The role of a father is still essential in a child life, research shows that children who have a father figure present do better in school, are more outspoken and less likely to abuse drugs.
With all the research showing the importance of a father in a child’s life, there are still a number of men who do not take part in raising their child. Majority of these men are Black, a 2004 studied showed that 56 percent of black children, are raised in single parent homes. In the Black community, fatherhood is in danger of extinction, men are creating children and feel less obliged to take care of them because they are not married to the mother, however responsibility continues far beyond conception.
As we continue to elevate and strengthen the black community, we must emphasize the fact that there is no excuse for a child to be raised without a father. The irresponsibility and lack of black fathers, falls on far too many women who are struggling to raise their child in a single parent household. Many of these women are forced to be both mother and father to their child, but there are simply some things a man can only instill in his child. We must encourage black men to lead and create a positive family as well as a community.
As we celebrate our fathers and enjoy our time with them, we should acknowledge our blessings because far too many children will never know what it is like to have a dad. There are a lot of fathers who are unworthy of be recognized, and although it is sad to say, the celebrations for Mother’s day will tremendously out number those for today. For some Father’s day is a celebration, but for others it is a painful reminder that their father chose not to take part in their existence.
Xoliswa Lewis is a sophomore mass communication major from Ruston.