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March 18, 2024

Civil rights pioneer Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was born on this date in 1922 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Journalist Launches "Daddy's Promise"

POSTED: September 19, 2008, 12:00 am

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Known by many people for his years interviewing some of the nation’s top newsmakers, television journalist Ed Gordon has another passion; being a father to his 14 year-old daughter Taylor. The Detroit native felt so strongly about the critical role Black men play in the lives of their daughters, he conceived an initiative on the subject. The result: Daddy’s Promise: A Lifetime of Love; a nationwide conversation within Black families about fatherhood and positive relationships with daughters. A national church and college tour was launched September 14 at Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit, drawing 3,000 people, including thousands of men who answered Gordon’s call to commit to their daughter’s development.

Gordon, host of nationally syndicated “Our World with Black Enterprise” and an NSnewstv.com Contributor, believes that the importance of fathers in the guiding their daughter’s personal growth needs to be underscored. The Daddy’s Promise Church and College Tour is meant to heighten attention to the father-daughter relationship and challenge Black men to appreciate and understand the importance of their presence in their daughter’s lives. “It is our intention,” asserted Gordon, “that the events bring attention to the invaluable contribution that a father makes to his daughter’s life and to provide support for men in creating the most loving and productive relationships they can.”

Over the course of the next several months Daddy’s Promise: A Lifetime of Love will host traveling town hall meetings and newsmaker panel discussions in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Dallas to encourage fathers to be actively involved in their daughter’s lives. The national tour is sponsored by Proctor and Gamble’s Bounty brand, the Ford Motor Company and coordinated in conjunction with 100 Black Men of America. The discussion in the nation’s capital will be held September 26 during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference and will feature Judge Greg Mathis, actor Courtney Vance, and NSnewstv CEO and Executive Editor Walter Fields.

Ford Motor Company is the sponsor of college focused Town Hall Meetings taking place on October 6 at Morehouse College in Atlanta and October 27 at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The campus meetings will address preparation for parenthood, as well as parent-child and male-female relationships. The panel for the events will include notables such as Matthew Knowles, father of singer and actress Beyonce.

“A father is the first man many daughters know,” acknowledged Dr. Michelle R. Howard-Vital, president of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s oldest historically Black college. “He helps to shape his daughter’s view of male-female relationships. Cheyney University is appropriate for this dialogue because of its historic legacy of stimulating dialogue and its enrollment of young people who will benefit from that. Our students are developing understandings about themselves and learning to interact with the opposite sex.”

Faith based leaders in the Black community will also lend their support to the initiative. Bishop T.D. Jakes, nationally known author, evangelist and founder of “The Potter’s House” in Dallas, Texas, and Bishop Eddie Long, leader of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, will host events at their respective churches and challenge men to take the Daddy’s Promise Pledge to show and acknowledge their love for their daughters. The Potter’s House event will take place November 14 and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church will host an event on December 6.

Daddy’s Promise: A Lifetime of Love formally kicked off a national outreach campaign in June at 100 Black Men of America’s 22nd Annual Conference. In addition to the church and college tour, activities will include community based programs, celebrity events and the creation and distribution of educational materials. The first year of the initiative will culminate on Father’s Day 2009 with a celebrated father-daughter dance and the publication of a book by Ed Gordon, also titled “Daddy’s Promise,” illustrating father-daughter bonds.

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