Dear Fathers Hosts Panel at the American Airlines Center

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...