Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hundreds march in capital to honor black fathers
WASHINGTON — Determined to challenge racial stereotypes, scores of fathers gathered Sunday morning with their children, other relatives and friends at the National Museum of African American History and Culture for a walk to celebrate black fatherhood and commemorate those whose lives ended in violent conflict with police.
Elsewhere across the country, there were more protests — mostly peaceful — and more Confederate statues came down.
On a cloudy and muggy Father’s Day in the nation’s capital, hundreds of people convened at the museum site on the National Mall to deliver a myth-busting message. These fathers wanted the world to know they have pride in their families and work hard to nurture them. They shouted the names of their male ancestors, and they showed off their own children.
Then they marched through the streets of Washington, as so many have in recent weeks, to demonstrate against racism and police brutality.
“Black lives matter! Black dads matter! My dad matters!” the crowd chanted. The group numbered perhaps 200 or more.
T-shirts proclaimed “We the best dads,” “Strong black father,” and “Daddy — the man, the myth, the legend.”
Some were pushing strollers on the summer morning. Several said they were looking for something activism-related to do on the holiday and spotted the event on social media.
Among them was Daryl Curry, a video educator who was celebrating his first Father’s Day. He was there with his 10-month-old son, Caido, in a stroller.
“A lot of black fathers don’t have this opportunity — to be a father,” because they die at the hands of police, Curry said. “The opportunity is taken from them, and it’s damaged the community.”
Negative stereotypes of absent and uncaring fathers need to be challenged, he said. “We’re here because we want to lead our children.”
Sheila Roberts, a 31-yearold insurance lawyer from Tampa, had surprised her own dad — who lives in Virginia — with a weekend visit. They were looking for a good way to celebrate the day that honored him, she said.
“Black fathers don’t get the credit they deserve,” Roberts said. “I’m here to dispel the myth and stereotype.”
Roberts said the burst of activism nationwide in the past several weeks has led her to think more about how she can help fight racism, including through pro bono work.
The gathering was the latest in a series of demonstrations in Washington and elsewhere in the weeks since George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died with the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer pressed into his neck.
A group known as The Dad Gang coordinated the March of Dads as a response to the deaths of Floyd and others. “This Sunday is for the dads here and those taken,” organizers said. “Too many Black fathers have been taken from their families by racism and violence.”
Dads of all races were invited to join. Mindful of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers said those who rallied and marched should wear masks.
The route led the marchers a short distance to Black Lives Matter Plaza next to Lafayette Square, in sight of the White House.
“Come in peace,” organizers said. “Leave empowered.”
On Sunday afternoon after the march, the plaza and the square had a festive vibe. Jazz and R&B poured from speakers at stands where people dressed up for the holiday browsed for T-shirts with slogans such as “Black girls are lit” and “Unapologetically black.”
Hundreds of people took videos or snapped selfies where not many days ago law enforcement had doused protesters with smoke and irritants.
Dozens gathered around a statue of President Andrew Jackson, which was encircled by high fencing in the square. The fence was plastered with drawings and words and pleas for black lives. A man in a suit stood near the White House as he shot a video of himself and held a flag with pro-Trump, anti-media commentary.
Some of the march organizers in their 20s and 30s said they have a generational mission to shift the images of dads to black men more of their generation. To them, that includes more frank talk about mental health needs, what one speaker called “toxic masculinity,” and the need to care for black fathers who may not look like you.
“Black lives don’t matter if all black dads don’t matter. Trans black women matter too!” Michael “Mouse” Jones told the crowd at Black Lives Matter Plaza, prompting some of the loudest cheers of the morning. “It doesn’t matter what college your kid goes to, what sneakers they have, if you’re not raising them with empathy. Generational wealth doesn’t matter if you don’t have generational empathy.”
ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE U.S.
m In Raleigh, N.C., spectators cheered Sunday morning as work crews finished the job started by protesters and removed a Confederate statue from the top of a 75-foot monument.
Acting on the order of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the crews removed the statue and then the obelisk on which it stood. Two other statues were removed from the state Capitol grounds Saturday. “Monuments to white supremacy don’t belong in places of allegiance, and it’s past time that these painful memorials be moved in a legal, safe way,” Cooper said. m In Wilmington, N.C., Democratic Mayor Bill Saffo imposed a curfew in a narrow area surrounding two Confederate monuments to try to thwart any vandalism or destruction. The curfew from 7:30 p.m. through 7 a.m. began Saturday night and lasts five nights.
m In Baltimore, a statue and memorial to George Washington in a city park were vandalized with red paint. The memorial also had the words “Destroy Racists” and the initials for the Black Lives Matter movement written on the base.
m In St. Augustine, Fla., the nation’s oldest city, a debate over history is looming over a monument memorializing dozens of the city’s sons who died fighting for the Confederacy. The Rev. Ron Rawls, a pastor at St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, calls the monument disrespectful and wants it removed. The City Commission is expected to decide whether to heed that call today.
m In New York, the American Museum of Natural History will remove a prominent statue of Theodore Roosevelt from its entrance after years of objections that it symbolizes colonial expansion and racial discrimination, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. The bronze statue that has stood at the museum’s entrance since 1940 depicts Roosevelt on horseback with an American Indian man and a black man standing next to the horse.
“The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and
Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior,” de Blasio said in a written statement. “The City supports the Museum’s request. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue.”
m In California, protesters targeted statues and busts of former President Ulysses Grant, who commanded the Union Army; Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star Spangled Banner;” and Spanish missionary Junipero Serra, who is credited with bringing Catholicism to the western United States. Grant and Key were both slave owners at points in their lives.
Also in California, three men, including employees of a sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office, were arrested in connection with the vandalism of a Black Lives Matter sign.
m An initially peaceful protest in Portland, Ore., against racial injustice turned violent early Sunday, and baton-wielding police used flash-bang grenades to disperse demonstrators throwing bottles, cans and rocks at sheriff’s deputies downtown. Several people were arrested after a group of protesters pulled down a fence, tossed objects including fireworks at officers and ignored repeated warnings to disperse, police said. Some people shined lasers into deputies’ eyes, police said.
m Seattle police pursued their investigation into a weekend shooting in the city’s protest zone that killed a 19-year-old man and critically injured another person. No arrests had been made.
Information for this article was contributed by Michelle Boorstein and Nick Anderson of The Washington Post, and by staff members of The Associated Press.