There’s a certain kind of brother who knows he’s doing something really special when he puts on a white tie. You know kind of man to about whom I’m referring. He tends to be middle-aged, with diamond stud earrings or 23 carat gold hoops, and he’s got a super clean, freshly-trimmed hairline. His style consciousness is arrested in time, and his way of accessorizing and dressing recalls the decade during which he came of age. For this man, it was the early 1990s.
Why are all the performance parent types on television always depicted as women? There are the stage mothers, the soccer moms, and the dance moms. And, whether they’re portrayed as doting or obsessive, these moms are almost always portrayed as white…which brings me to the subject of today’s drawing, the Black gymnastics dads. Yes, they do exist. I cannot say they are legion, but I see them every week, when I accompany my niece to her gymnastics school. Last week, while I was sitting in one of the waiting areas, I happened to notice that there were 5 dads standing in the lobby, and four of those dads were Black men. One was standing and watching his daughter’s class, and three were helping their daughters into or out of jacket, shoes, and socks.
I don’t need to recount all of the media coverage that addresses how or why Black fathers are absent. And I am not suggesting that absentee fathers are not a problem. But it is also a problem when the national rhetoric around Black men and parenting completely overlooks the very real presence and contributions of the men I see at my niece’s weekly class, the fathers who are loving and present caregivers–the fathers who are there.
I am not a huge fan of the neck tattoo. The name-in-script on the side of the neck is certainly preferable to the skull/sadclownhappyclown/giant eyeball/flaming heart in the center of the throat, but I generally question the wisdom of getting any sort of ink above the shoulders.
So … a few days ago, I ran into this guy who had “Juicy” tattooed on the right side of his neck (albeit in a modest and understated script). It had never occurred to me that anyone but James Mtume or Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace would even consider such a thing.
As Christopher Wallace would say, “If you don’t know, now you know.”
The clientele and the employees at Kaiser Oakland are a true reflection of the ethnic and cultural diversity of this city. This brother was talking to the person in front of him while he was waiting in line at the pharmacy. The person to whom he was speaking, an elderly Korean woman, seemed polite but a little unsure. I tried not to eavesdrop, but he was speaking pretty loudly, and I couldn’t help put pick up the occasional word or phrase. The conversation was all over the place, from the pain in his shoulder to his workout regimen to professional basketball. I’m not sure she cared about any of what he was saying, but it seemed that she was choosing the mild inconvenience of pretending to be interested over the awkward discomfort of asking him to please shut up.
This gentleman and I have a lot in common. Like me, he can fall asleep just about anywhere, apparently with little prompting. I spotted him at the Starbucks at the East Bay Bridge Center shops. I’d stopped in for a trenta-sized iced tea. This particular Starbucks is one of the busiest coffee houses in the area, and it might seem to be a terrible place for a nap; but for those of us who can sleep through just about anything, the bustle and chatter make for the perfect white noise lullaby.
I like using floral backgrounds for the men that I draw. For example, the vintage roses in the design of this wallpaper remind me of the historical context to which each of my drawings is a response. In addition, the flowers both refer to and offer contrast with the setting in which I saw the subject of this particular drawing (Home Depot).
I met Roy Miles at the Alternative Press Expo, back in October. He stopped at my booth and chatted with me for a while. I explained my 1001 Black Men project, and he let me snap a photo for later use. It was only later that I would learn that he was a puppeteer, toy designer, musician, and filmmaker. Whenever we cross paths I feel energized and inspired.
