Of course you did. And if you did not, well it is not too late to do so. I am often reminded of this when I come late from work and the kids are still up against their mom’s wishes. They are stalling. They ask my wife for more juice, a cheese stick, they want to watch “her” show on CNN anything to see daddy before they go to bed. Now, that’s flattery for someone to wait on you for that long; Black men have a duty to “show up” and be present. What happens if we don’t show up?
Have you ever made an excuse for not “showing up”? Sure, we all have. We chose to put ourselves over the feelings of others.
This chart shows something quite striking, but unfortunately not suprising. The real issue is that we’ve come to expect such disparate numbers within our community. Try this, “just show up” when you are supposed to regardless of what you have or don’t have, simply “show up” be Present, pay attention and do not fall asleep. Read the full article entitled, “Talking Down and Stepping Up” which discusses the message from our presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. What will you do differently to be in the Present?
