Black Fathers Embrace the Role of Stay-at-Home Parent

This post was originally published on Word In Black By: Bria Overs In a demonstration of engagement and support in education, thousands of fathers and male figures across more than 100 cities in 31 states accompanied their children to school last September. They showed up and showed out to signify the importance of fathers and their presence in all aspects of their children’s lives. The event, called The Million Fathers March, brought out an estimated 64,8000 participants, according to Fathers Incorporated, an Atlanta-based non-profit supporting fathers through services and programming. What demographic had the largest turnout that late summer day? Black men, Kenneth Braswell, CEO of Fathers Incorporated, says. “If you stand outside of any low-income school in this country, including D.C., and you watch the cars that come around to drop off children, I guarantee you the vast majority of people that you will see dropping off children will be Black men,” Braswell tells Word In Black. Parenthood looks different from years past. Importantly, who stays home and who does not has also changed. Nearly a quarter of children under 15 with married parents have a stay-at-home mother, while 1% have a stay-at-home father, according to November 2023 data...