Calling on Black Fathers

By William J. Booker, as published by the Chicago Sun-Times, June 17, 2020

The guidance and support from black fathers is needed more than ever. Our sons and daughters are on the frontlines in the fight for racial equality and justice in a world where black lives seldom matter. As we enter the 5th week of protests for criminal justice reform, our children need their father's crucial involvement to help set the course for future generations to come.

"They will not get there alone, though their tireless efforts are heroic, if the lives that they fight for don't include the voices of black men and fathers, the struggle may very well be lost."

Many people have lost their lives due to police brutality and excessive force, but it is a call to action, for black men who believe and want to see real change. The whole world may very well be watching, but as fathers it is our solemn duty to love, support, and protect our kids by any means necessary. This Father's day we honor all fathers who want to see a brighter future for their kids, and those who have died trying to make a world of difference.

:: Stepping Into Fatherhood ::

As printed by the Orlando Sentinel, by William J. Booker, June 16, 2019

There are many men helping to raise children that aren't their biological kids. These men have changed diapers, helped with science projects, dropped off and picked up kids from school, attended recitals, baseball games, and have been the voice of reason in an otherwise chaotic world. Some of these men have even helped put kids through college, and taught them a thing or two about remodeling a bathroom, fixing a leaky faucet and changing a car tire. It's the small things that theses men, better known as stepfathers, do that sometimes go unnoticed but are appreciated by their children. Stepfathers are men who have accepted the responsibility of being a parent to children who are not theirs, but love them just the same.

"We shouldn't forget about all the things stepfathers do everyday to help make their children's lives more enjoyable..." 

They may not have asked to be fathers, but they have embraced fatherhood and all the joy, inconvenience and laughter that comes with it. They love and support their spouse's kids as their own. And while any man can essentially conceive a child, let's be especially thankful for all the stepfathers, who have stepped up and shown us what it truly takes to be a great dad!

 “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.” -Barack Obama

"Good Fathers Make Great Dads"

As published in the Chicago Defender by William J. Booker

We often leave it up to the courts to decide on what to do with men who have children they don’t or can’t financially support, but fathers who intentionally dodge their financial obligations to their children may have other problems they suffer from related to inadequacies from their own life experience of growing up in a fatherless household. The lessons young men learn about fatherhood begins at home. However, fatherless young men who never learn what is expected of them when they eventually have a family of their own. These men often detach themselves from the experience of raising children out of fear of reliving past feelings of abandonment and neglect that they themselves may have experienced as a child. It’s challenging in many ways for some men to accept their responsibility of being a father, especially when you’re told growing up that you will never amount to anything, or that you’re just like your dad–which can have a negative connotation. 

All young boys need their fathers to teach them how to be responsible dads, and how to take care of their family. When a father leaves his home and tells his son, “I’m going to need you to be the man of the house when I’m not here.” It means a lot to a young boy to know that his father has entrusted him to take good care of his family. He grows up knowing he can handle the responsibility of fatherhood. But when a young boy grows up in a fatherless household, he is often denied the experience and reassurance that he can handle the job. 

"Moreover, if the solution is to lock up every father who falls behind, or fails to pay their child support, many young men will never learn how to be a good dad. It’s children that hurt the most when fathers are absent from their lives. Courts and policymakers must understand and consider all of the challenges children of incarcerated parents face when making decisions that affects the lives of millions of children." 

Clearly, there is a disconnect that must be addressed, but incarcerating men because they have failed at being good providers to their children is not the solution. Despite the challenges, let’s hope that all men can find the experience of becoming a father a blessing, and learn how to become a good father and provider by spending less time in jail, and more time with their kids. 

Reprint from the Chicago Defender June 14, 2018.

The Impact of ‘Mass Incarceration

Black & Brown Children

By William J. Booker, As Published by: Chicago Defender, June 22, 2016

This Father’s Day, over two million American children may not have an opportunity to celebrate Father’s Day with their fathers because they are in prison.  It’s a sad fact, that the United States has the largest prison population in the world. There are over 2.3 million people in prisons throughout the United States, and though the United States represents less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it houses an astounding 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Since 1981, the increase in prison population has surged the number of children of incarcerated parents by 80 percent. 

There are now 2.7 million minor children (under age 18) with a parent behind bars (The Pew Charitable Trusts). The vast majority of these parents are African American and Latino fathers. In state prisons, 42% of fathers are African American.  1 in 9 African-American children (11.4 percent), 1 in 28 Hispanic children (3.5 percent) and 1 in 57 White children (1.8 percent) has an incarcerated parent (John Jay Center for Criminal Justice). 

Mass incarceration cripples families and communities, perpetuates poverty, recreates conditions for crime, waste trillions of taxpayers’ dollars, and has underlying racial bias implications. The tremendous increase in the prison population has changed much of the debates on just about every social and economic issue you can think of from the war on drugs to parental rights. The battle between the rights of custodial parents and non-custodial parents, (particularly concerning incarcerated fathers) are a mute subject due to mandatory minimum sentencing.   

Moreover, indigent fathers, who are incarcerated, leave prison with an average of $20,000 in back debt, according to the Federal Agency for Child Support Enforcement, and 70 percent of all back child support is owed by men earning less than $10,000 a year, landing the majority of men of color back in prison--without being provided an attorney.

"Many incarcerated fathers have become trapped in a system that has failed to recognize that African Americans and Hispanics men earn less than white men, even when both have comparable incarceration and criminal offense records, making it almost impossible for them to pay back their child support." 

This modern day debtors prison system is destroying the relationship fathers have with their children and makes it difficult for fathers to reconnect with their children once they are finally released.  It is no doubt that people of color have been incarcerated disproportionately, but it’s children that hurt the most when their parents are behind bars and absent in their lives. Children of incarcerated parents often suffer from poor health, behavior problems, emotional difficulties and poverty. 

In light of this, courts and policymakers must understand and consider all of the challenges children of incarcerated parents face when making decisions about sentencing that affects the lives of millions of children, and legislators need to recognize how critical comprehensive criminal justice reform is to reducing state and federal prison populations. Reducing mandatory minimums, support for ‘Ban the Box’ bills, and state supported transportation for children to visit their incarcerated parent, are great efforts towards reform, but more needs to be done.  Funding is needed for programs and services that directly address issues that impact the day-to-day lives of children of incarcerated parents.

Fortunately, some states are starting to implement a wide array of reforms in their own prison systems to reduce incarceration rates and offer some optimism for incarcerated fathers which are being recognized as models for the entire nation. In Illinois for example, the Turner bill is being vote on sponsored by Rep. Arthur Turner, D-Chicago, if passed, the bill would wipe out arrest records for ex-offenders that don't end in a conviction — because charges are dismissed, or because a judge grants a conditional discharge, meaning no conviction is recorded if the defendant stays out of trouble for a specified period.

In New Jersey, voters and lawmakers gave judges more power to release low-risk defendants who can’t afford bail, letting them go home rather than sit in jail while they await trial. In Idaho, a new law created 24-hour crisis centers to help keep people with mental health issues from being locked up unnecessarily. Georgia and Louisiana established courts for military veterans accused of crimes, and Hawaii is funding programs to help reunify children with parents who are behind bars. 

These are just a few examples of criminal justice reform that states around the country have put in place over the last two years, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice. 

"Mass incarceration has destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, but a prison sentence for a father shouldn’t result in a life sentence for a child." 

This Father’s Day, let’s hope that all incarcerated fathers can find a way to spend more time with their children--and less time in prison.

"The hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill." -President Barack Obama

Repost from the Chicago Defender: 06/22/16
https://issuu.com/chidefender/docs/06222016_chicagodefender/6