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Shout Out to All The Single Fathers: Mine is Amazing
Single fathers seem invisible.
They exist, and yet, they seemingly don’t. For example, in 2019, there were 6.5 million single father households in the United States, but rarely do you hear them spoken about or represented on screen or in pop culture, especially single Black fathers.
My dad was one.
He had the intermittent help of partners that were surrogate mother figures but primarily took it upon himself to raise my older sister and me.
Beyond the logistical and financial complications of being a single parent, my dad struggled with an aspect that I’m sure any single parent can identify with: how do I provide my children the emotional support/guidance that typically comes from a mother.
My dad has often lamented how much this struggle weighed on him. However, I’m here to affirm and uplift his successful efforts, particularly considering my dad modeled so many great fatherly behaviors without having one in his life. Hopefully, uplifting and detailing his efforts may provide guidance for other single fathers dealing with this challenge.
