By Sen. T’wina Nobles (D-Wa), Word in Black Opal Lee is the grandmother of Juneteenth. For most of her life, she has advocated to make Juneteenth a national holiday. In 2016, she even walked from her home in Ft. Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C., traveling two and a half miles each day to symbolize the […]
Category: News
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Journey to Josiah Fatherhood: Single gay man adopts and discovers the love of being Dad
By Cara Williams, Special to the AFRO Maryland opera singer David Marshall wouldn’t have been considered a candidate for adoption as a single Black parent a generation ago. As a single black gay man – Marshall may still have problems adopting in some states. Adoption in years past happened within the strict confines of racial, […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Fatherhood in 2022: Black men are battling demons you can not possibly imagine
By Reginald Williams, Special to the AFRO “Have you ever asked a man how he’s doing and he says, ‘I’m alright?’” That was the question posed in a viral video popular on YouTube. Colion Noir, a video producer and self-confessed “responsible gun owner” narrated a video shown at the start of Kean University’s tenth Annual […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Coaches and their players – a bond like fatherhood
By H. R. Harris, Special to the AFRO Rob Harris is the head coach of Washington, D.C.’s famed Lions Football Team at Archbishop Carroll High School. Harris thought he was just attending an awards dinner at the St. James Sports Complex in Springfield, Va., in early June. After all, the team won the 2022 D.C. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Happy Father’s Day!
By Sharon Williams Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers. Fathers, you play a very important role in children’s lives. You should be a role model, provider, protector, inspiration, and motivation. Your children should feel loved by you. Children need attention, their own personal attention. They need to feel special. They need guidance and a […]
Posted inBaltimore News
On Becoming a Serious Father: Our Roles & Responsibilities
By S. Bruce “Olamina” Stevenson Besides love, the greatest gift a father can give his children is his time. As fathers we need to provide our children with a lifetime of treasured memories. We need to make sacrifices for our children even if it means losing out on something else. How we spend time with […]
Posted inBaltimore News
What Fatherhood has taught me
By Christopher L. Maith Sr. Nobody knows when they are a young boy that being a father is one of the most rewarding and sometimes hurtful experiences you will ever have. Who’s job was it to tell me that? Who dropped the ball? Or was it strategic not to inform me and let me figure […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Honoring and celebrating healthy Black fatherhood
By Richard A. Rowe Each year, the third Sunday of June is set aside to pay tribute to the many fathers that are devoted to their families and that have embraced fatherhood as an honorable and sacred role unlike any other. Unfortunately, in a number of Black households, this Father’s Day will be and feel […]
Posted inNational News
Kamala Harris talks diversity and media coverage in a briefing with the Black Press
The vice president highlighted the role of Black women in the Biden-Harris administration and the coverage surrounding White House wins, among other topics. By Tinashe Chingarande, Special to the AFRO Vice President Kamala Harris held a Zoom press briefing this week to highlight how the Biden-Harris administration has excelled in employing Black women and appointing […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Plaza – what is the message today?
By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. News Editor Black Lives Matter – three words have galvanized millions of people from all races, religions and cultures around the planet to spontaneously spill into the streets with a demand for true freedom, equality and justice. The words are also the name of an organization founded in 2013 after […]
Posted inHealth
Juneteenth: are we free in every way?
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Juneteenth is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth” commemorating the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that thousands of African Americans in Texas had been emancipated from slavery. The announcement, made on June 19, 1865, came two and a half years after President Lincoln’s […]
Posted inNational News
#WordinBlack: Juneteenth and America’s racial soap opera
By David Carr, WordinBlack On June 19, the United States will celebrate Juneteenth for the second time as a federal holiday. But for Black America, Juneteenth has long been seen as the true celebration of freedom for enslaved Africans in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863, but it was […]