Making a vow
Fathers’ pledge offers united front against domestic violence
Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam stood before about 100 people— including members of the Miramar police and fire departments, city officials, local activists and residents— inside the lobby of the Miramar Cultural Center.
His event, the Father’s Day Pledge, which took place on June15, served not only to recognize dads, but to bring awareness to a cause— domestic violence.
“It’s an issue thatwe may hear about from the community and news, but far too often it’s a silent and devastating curse that impacts families across theworld,” Messam said. “I’d like Miramar to be ground zero, where fathers can come together and say thatwe will be the example for ourselves to be perpetrators and to intervene where we see fit, to raise our next generation to be advocates for this issue aswell.”
Messam invited speakers including representatives of local organizations, musicians, and a local poet to speak at the event.
Fathers MIA is an organization devoted to strengthening father-child relations. The organization’s founder, Gernald Hawkins, addressed the crowd.
“We have been given the task to be able to be the leaders of our homes andwe all know that if our homes are not in order, our communities fall,” Hawkins said.“We must be the example and if the fathers are missing in action, our sons and daughters do not have the example and sometimes, they followthe example that is put in front of them.”
President of the South Florida chapter of 100 BlackMen, Stephen Johnson, was also in attendance.
“Your personal success means nothing if you can’t give back to those young boys and young girls within the community,” Johnson said.
The100 BlackMen nonprofit formed nationally in 1963 and the South Florida chapter formed in 1989 according to its website.
After the pledge, the mayor hosted a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Luther Campbell. Campbell is a Miramar resident, father and community activist, but is arguably best known as Luke Skyywalker of the 2LiveCrew.
“I asked [Campbell] to take the pledge with us,” Messam said of the artist. “When you look at his life and his story, fromhis younger years as a transcending artist who challenged the music industry, what you may not knowabout him is his advocacy in the community.”
The last speaker was spokenword artist, Rebecca “Butterfly” Vaughns.
“Mayor Messam has made Miramar shine,” she said. “Making the sun jealous.”
Vaughns performed a poem about domestic
violence, which she wrote in 2004 after a colleague died at the hands of domestic violence.
The audience roared into an applause as she finished and Messam returned to the podium for the pledge. All of the men in the crowd raised their right hands and recited the following:
I WILL WORK TO END GENDER VIOLENCE AND PLEDGE TO
· Not use violence of any form in my relationships
· Speak up if another man is abusing his partner or is disrespectful or abusive to women and girls. I will not remain silent.
· Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence.
· Mentor and teach boys about how to be men in ways that don’t involve degrading or abusing girls and women. I will lead by example.
“We have been given the task to be able to be the leaders of our homes and we all know that if our homes are not in order, our communities fall.” — Gernald Hawkins, Fathers MIA founder