By Tony Porter
A Call to Men
A CALL TO MEN just completed two more A CALL TO COACHES events, in Nashville, Tennessee and Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have now facilitated this event in Charlotte, Baltimore, Seattle, Nashville, and Minneapolis. At each event we have been blessed to have support from a current football player on that city/state’s team. In Nashville we were joined by Delanie Walker of the Titans and former Titan Chris Sanders. In Minneapolis we were joined by Greg Jennings of the Vikings and former Viking Brook Bollinger. There were about 300 men in attendance at each event.
The more I facilitate these events the more the urgency of now becomes evident to me as it relates to the plight of young men in America. It should also be noted that the plight of young men has a direct correlation to the experiences of young women. As we increase healthy, respectful, and loving manhood we decrease domestic, sexual, and other forms of violence against women.
Currently in the USA one third of all our children grow up in a single parent household. And to be a little more specific thirty-two percent of white children, forty-one percent of Latino children and fifty-four percent of African American children grow up without a father present in the home. We also know that children who grow up without two parents in the home are at a much greater risk of living in poverty.
I’m not focused in this article on why these problems exist. (though it is a much needed conversation that I look forward to having in my next article). I am focused on the role we as men must play in filling the gap of fatherlessness for this generation of American children.
During the CALL TO COACHES Event in Nashville, David Williams, the Athletics Director for Vanderbilt University made a profound statement that will have lasting impact on me. Mr. Williams stated “while I had great respect for my teachers growing up as a young man, I can’t remember their names, but I can remember the name of every athlete coach I ever played for.”
This statement spoke volumes to me regarding the influence coaches and athletes have on boys and young men. And we can’t just stop at coaches and athletes. Men in general have to find their place in filling the gap. While it’s true that coaches and athletes can use their influence to expedite these efforts, they can’t do it alone. Recently at church in my men’s Sunday school class we had an in depth discussion on this issue and challenged our men’s ministry to step up its efforts. These discussions need to happen in a very purposeful way across this country. And it’s not just conversation that’s needed. As Dr. King stated “there is an urgency of now,” so we need action, immediate action. It’s incumbent on us as men to find our place as part of the solution to this crisis of fatherlessness in our country. We at A CALL TO MEN look forward to participating in efforts to fill the gap of fatherlessness.
Tony Porter can be reached at acalltomen.org.