On December 7th, Dear Fathers held their first ever event at the American Airlines Center, powered by Metrocare. Dear Fathers is a media platform ‘dedicated to telling stories of Black fathers from all angles while also empowering our community with tangible resources that inspire, heal, and strengthen the Black man’. A panel on fatherhood and mental health with former NBA All-Star Josh Howard, NéAndré Broussard of Black Menswear, Darius Billings of The Athlete’s Foot, and Dr. Lamar Quinn of Toast for Charity was held prior to the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
I was able to speak to Jesse Alex, one of the co-founders of Dear Fathers at the conclusion of the panel. Alex said that, “the reason for this discussion is to basically create safe spaces for Black men and Black fathers to have conversations about who they are as men [and] who they are as fathers. It was a great conversation. Each panelist was able to drop so many gems to help the audience but [that] also help[ed] myself.”
One of the panelists, NéAndré Broussard, “was appreciative to be a part of the Dear Fathers panel. Changing the narrative about Black fatherhood, about Black masculinity, about brotherhood. Being able to have the opportunity to speak about it, I’m always grateful for [that].”
Former Maverick Josh Howard also voiced why it was, “important to me for to be a part of this event because they need more people like myself to give information out there as far as what it is to be a real father, what it is to understand your mental health, and what it is to be a professional in the career that you choose. When I got the opportunity [to be a part of this event], I jumped at it and I’m glad I could be a part of this.” I also asked the current UNT Dallas basketball head coach how he balances his career and fatherhood. “The Lord first and having a great mother of my kids, that helped me out, especially when I was going out of town and had to play.”
Kayla McDowell, founder of Dallas Black Bloggers, one of the community partners of the event, was also in attendance. She would tell me that “it was extremely important to be a part of this event for Dear Fathers because as a young lady who started to have a relationship with their dad when I was 21, I feel like these conversations need to be talked about a little bit more. Dear Fathers is an amazing platform. Both of the founders of Dear Fathers [Jesse Alex & Lamar Johnson Jr.] are amazing. This platform is growing so much, I’m just so proud of both of them. The fact that this event is here in Dallas and they’re from Dallas, you know Dallas Black Bloggers had to pull up and support. I’m glad we’re here.”
Mavericks Vice President of Corporate Relations, Rolando Blackman was also in attendance and, “thought it was tremendous to hear diversified thought and diversified actions for all these men who are successful in their lives and have an opportunity to give out their actionables to the people sitting there. All of us have lives and all of us have families, but to be able to understand it in their ways and being able to give us the opportunity to understand how they deal with things was big because I go to these type of [events] also to be able to understand because it’s more than just saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It’s mental health. It’s making the right decisions. It’s trying to live life whether you’re married [or] you’re not. You’re going through the controversies of different things that are happening. I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to come out to these types of events and to uplift and help people, which is exactly what we need”.
Following the panel was a happy hour mixer held in the Patrón Lounge where the panelists and attendees were able to network and mingle before the Mavericks game later in the evening. Dear Fathers has held events in other cities and with other sports teams including the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, and the St. Louis Cardinals. This was their first event in partnership with the Dallas Mavericks. For more information and to support Dear Fathers, go to dearfathers.com.
Follow Rashad Miller on all social media @theuncoolurban for more sports content as well as his Youtube channel under the same name.