The Measure of a Father

Published Wednesday, 

June 11, 2008

by Ryanne Persinger for 

The Charlotte Post

PHOTO/ADAM BATTAGLIA
Rod Garvin and his daughter Ayanna share a special relationship. 

“The relationship between a father and daughter is unique,” Garvin says. 

Rod Garvin was 23 years old and had just graduated from college when his daughter was born. He was not married to Ayanna’s mother, whom he still has a good relationship with, but that didn’t stop him from taking a very active role in being a good dad.

“It’s been my greatest blessing and my greatest challenge,” the 33-year-old said. “My child became the most important thing in my life.”

Garvin said he and his 9-year-old daughter share a special bond.

“The relationship between a father and a daughter is unique,” Garvin said. “A lot of people prefer to have a boy, but I think they underestimate what the relationship could be. There’s a certain type of connection (with a girl).”

Until Ayanna gets married, Garvin said he’ll be the number one man in her life for a long time.

They see each other throughout the weekday and on weekends.

“We do a lot of activities together, we go to parks, trips with family, to church and the movies,” Ayanna said. “He’s a good dad.”
Teresa Farmer, a recreation attendant for Sistas Gonna Work It Out, a mentoring program for girls 9-16, said it’s unfortunate that while many fathers are absent from their children’s lives, there are many more who are present.

“When the dads are there, the girl’s attitude seems to be a little different,” Farmer said. “You see that daddy’s girl type of situation...and it’s been positive for them.”

Farmer, a single mother herself, said when fathers drop their daughters off at the program, she notices the girls are well-rounded and believes they may become less sexually active when they get older.

“The dads are a lot more on top of things,” Farmer added. “It’s been positive for me to see that so many dads are involved.”

BOYS

Robert Wayne is a dad raising his 17-year-old son, Robert Wayne III, who has been living with him for 10 years.

Wayne’s father was taken from him when he was young, which is why it was imperative for him to raise Robert III in a stable environment.

“I think having a (father) is very important because without that a kid can get lost,” Wayne said. “There’s a lot of confusion with right and wrong. I didn’t have a father growing up. I wanted to be here for my son as he grew so I could give him the things that I missed that affected my development as a man.”

Robert III said he and his father are real close.

“He’s taught me almost everything,” the teenager said. “He’s taught me how to be a man.”

Aaron Means, the executive vice president of programs for 100 Black Men of Charlotte, an organization aimed at being role models for African American youths, said anybody can be a father but it takes a special person to be a dad.

“Being a dad is being there for the child, teaching them the right road, and being there when the child needs you,” Means said.
Means said what a child sees is what they will become.

“A lot of people just need to understand that black men care because we do,” Means added.

Wayne, who speaks very highly of his son, said their relationship is great. His son is talented athletically and is very special to him.

The best advice for any single father or new dad Wayne and Garvin said, is this:

“It’s very important to communicate with the child...and don’t give up because the child is always looking up to you,” Wayne said.

Garvin added: “It’s unfortunate that I have heard so many stories that say the father is not involved. But I embrace the relationship with my daughter. I even have different ways of thinking about womanhood now.”

Media Blitz

After a long semester of seminary I'm taking a much needed break - from school that is. My work with GenerationEngage is speeding up as this year's election season continues to increase excitement and political participation. Like previous primary states, North Carolina experienced a high level of youth-voter-turnout on May 6th. The challenge will be to keep that energy going past the 2008 General Election in November.

GenerationEngage in North Carolina received some great press through a Charlotte Observer opinion-editorial , the Observer's politics video blog, and an interview I did with our local Fox News affiliate.
_________________________

Back in April, I attended the Inter-American Development Bank's Youth Conference in Miami. As the nation reflected on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. 40 years after his assassination on April 4, 1968, it was fitting that young people were gathering to discuss how they can become agents for change and social justice today. Here is a video clip on that very subject between myself and Rafiq Kalam Id-Din.

Engaging young adults for activism

Published Thursday, February 28, 2008
by Ryanne Persinger
for The Charlotte Post

Photo by Calvin Ferguson





Decker Ngongang (left) and Rod Garvin are Charlotte Outreach Coordinators at Generation Engage, a nonprofit that seeks to boost political and social activism among young adults.
__________________________________________


A civic organization is trying to keep young people interested in politics long after November when the presidential elections are over.

Decker Ngongang (left) and Rod Garvin are Charlotte outreach coordinators at Generation Engage, a nonprofit that seeks to boost political and social activism among young adults.

“We get politicians to come speak to young people,” Decker Ngongang, an outreach coordinator for the Charlotte based Generation Engage, said. “We want (youths) to care about the issues even after the elections are over.”

Generation Engage, which connects youths to political leaders and other organizations, focuses on creating a dialogue between youth and politicians.

The group allows youth to think for themselves and to understand what it is they like about a candidate.

This year especially, Ngongang said young people are interested in politics.

“If the election was held today, a black man could be elected president,” said Ngongang. “Any historic moment brings young people out (to vote).”

It is the first time in U.S. history that a woman – Hillary Clinton – or an African American – Barack Obama – have a good chance to become commander in chief.

“There is an excitement about Barack Obama,” Ngongang, 26, said. “It can’t help but to invigorate young people. We love new stuff.”

Twenty five year-old Varsay Sirleaf said he has always been into politics, he was even the student body president in college, but he says there is something special about voting in 2008.

“If you look at the demographics of youths that are supporting Barrack Obama that age range is between 18 to 30,” Sirleaf said.

“Look at that participation now compared to 10 years ago.”

According to Generation Engage, 50 percent of young adults voted in the 2004 presidential election, compared to 41 percent in 2000. But this year could bring a record number of voters under age 30 in the presidential election, or even in North Carolina’s May primaries, said Charlotte’s Rod Garvin, a Charlotte outreach coordinator.

“The excitement is early in the primaries and the caucuses,” Garvin, 32, said. “Voting is important to the overall democracy which is always evolving.”

In Garvin’s own opinion, he said until the first non-white male president is elected, America is unable to say that democracy is evolving as it should.

“We want to keep democracy growing,” Garvin added. “It’s about that sustainability, it’s about being informed and participating in dialogue to make democracy happen.”

Generation Engage reaches out to all political parties whether it’s Republican, Democrat, Independent or other.

That is something that Tonya Simmons appreciates.

“They don’t force anything on you,” Simmons, 26, said. “It’s all just informational.”

Simmons attended her first Generation Engage Ambassador meeting last year when the group held an internet chat with former secretary of state Colin Powell and local politicians.

“I really wanted to get our demographic here involved,” Simmons said. “It was good to hear about an organization that focused on being active in politics here in Charlotte.”

Generation Engage specifically targets ages 16 to 30. The organization focuses on those without a formal education, because they seem to be the most disconnected, Garvin said.

“You want to engage people in politics before they turn 18,” Garvin said.

Generation Engage has chapters in New York, Florida, California and Raleigh. The Charlotte chapter was chartered in 2007.

The group hosted an event at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, “Hip-Hop Politics,” this month promoting politics and reaching out to the young. Every year the Charlotte based group hosts a local block party for candidates running for local office.

“Young people need to understand why the school board race and county commissioners race affects them,” Ngongang said.
Sirleaf, who was born and raised in Liberia, agreed. Aside from elections, he was interested in the city’s new light rail system and tax increases.

“For (youths) who are not as aware of important issues ...Generation Engage bridges the gap. They gear it toward my generation.”

Ngongang is a graduate of North Carolina State University and majored in political science. He left a job at Bank of America to become more involved in leadership.

Garvin, once an educator at the Levine Museum of the New South, also left his job to work for the organization. He is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is currently working towards his master’s degree at Hood Theological Seminary.

King, Hip-Hop and the New Movement

Excerpts of speech given at Scotland County, NC N.A.A.C.P. Youth Council's MLK Birthday Celebration - Jan. 15, 2008.

I must start with a confession and some of you may relate to what I have to share. It is only in the past 7 to 8 years that I have truly begun to appreciate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As part of that first generation to grow up with the influence of hip-hop, I was more drawn to Malcolm X than Martin King. Hip-Hop at its best has been a means of cultural and political expression for young people; especially those struggling to survive at the bottom of society. Hip-Hop is known to be raw, gritty, uncompromising and unconcerned about what those on the outside think about it.

Malcolm X (or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, his Arabic name) is believed to share these same characteristics and during hip-hop’s golden era of prolific, artistic innovation and heightened social and political consciousness, from the late 1980’s to the mid-1990’s, he was the revolutionary symbol that inspired many young people. Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X (1992), solidified Malcolm’s status as the patron saint of hip-hop as many young people rushed to purchase “X” baseball caps and t-shirts, including myself. It’s not that there was no respect or appreciation for Dr. King among youth, but the federal holiday created in his honor in 1986, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan under pressure from Congress and the American public, made some in the hip-hop generation feel that King’s memory had been co-opted by the mainstream society that they wanted to challenge, because for them, Dr. King’s dream of a racially inclusive democracy where every individual could achieve their God given potential was yet to be realized, despite the gains the Civil Rights Movement made possible.

Theologian, Dr. James Cone believes that the hip-hop generation has made a mistake in viewing Martin King as irrelevant in comparison to Malcolm X. He writes that, “They rap about Malcolm’s profound analysis of America’s racism without even mentioning how Martin organized a movement to fight against the racism that Malcolm analyzed.”[1] Both men were religious leaders who were also revolutionaries. Malcolm was a cultural revolutionary who had a political impact. He directly inspired the Black Power and Black Consciousness Movements by challenging black folk to be proud of their ethnic identity, physical appearance, and African heritage, while he verbally attacked the ideology of white supremacy with his incredible intellect and wit. Martin on the other hand was primarily a political revolutionary. He lead the Movement that abolished racial segregation and secured voting rights for African-Americans and other minorities, with his eloquent speech and moral courage. Though the two men only met once, and though their public comments about one another were not always friendly, they inevitably had an influence on each other’s social philosophy.

In his annual address at the 11th Convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, entitled “Where Do We Go From Here?” (Atlanta, GA; 1967) King made an appeal to black consciousness that surely would have made X proud and should resonate with African-Americans in the hip-hop generation. Here’s what he said:

As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive [personhood] his [or her] own emancipation proclamation. And with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-[contempt] and say to himself and to the world, ‘I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents, and now I’m not ashamed of that. I'm ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave.’ Yes, yes, we must stand up and say, "I'm black, but I'm black and beautiful.

...Hip-Hop (a cultural art form that emerged in the mid-1970's) was an attempt by African, Afro-Caribbean, Latinos and others to find their voice and identity in post-Civil Rights Movement America. Though legal segregation and voter disenfranchisement had ended, young people in urban and rural areas suffered under de-facto segregation, felt estranged from the democratic process and trapped in a cycle of poverty and economic stagnation. Social service programs and public education budgets were cut, including funding for art and music programs.

Rhyming and freestyling over instrumental beats looped by two records on turntables (an invention by D.J. Kool Herc, an Afro-Caribbean immigrant from the West Bronx) replaced choir rehearsal and band practice. Breakdancers or “b-boys” and “b-girls” expressed the hip-hop attitude through gravity defying, bodily movement. Graffiti artists who were unable to create visual art in school made the urban landscape their canvass, and in a time of growing gang territorialism they crossed hostile borders to leave their mark by “tagging” their names on city walls and subways in an effort to escape the invisibility of their existence.[2] It’s as if they were using graffiti to echo Dr. King’s proclamation that we heard earlier, “I am somebody. I am a person,” or to paraphrase French Philosopher Rene’ Descartes, “I ‘tag’, therefore I am.”

Hip-Hop at its inception was primarily about the sheer enjoyment of the music, the dance and the art. Originally, MC’s would rap to get the party started or would engage in freestyle “battles” to determine who had the most lyrical prowess. Though hip-hop emerges in part as cultural response to certain socio-economic realities, it’s political or protest tradition did not commence until 1982. This is the year that song called “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with lead vocals by Melle Mel opened a new artistic frontier. Some of you may be familiar with the hook of the song that goes:
Don’t push me, cause I’m close to the edge... [Audience starts to sing along]

Oh, can we sing that together? [Laughter]

Don’t push me, cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to loose my head
Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

For the first time their was a popular song on the radio, as well as a music video, that did not boast about the lyrical skills of the rap artist, or provide a clever run-down of party life, but instead spoke to the poverty, educational inequity, and rising crime and drug use that plagued the inner-city.

***

Like the larger society, hip-hop has been a male dominated space with some notable exceptions. Artists such as MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill have made significant cultural and political contributions. Salt-N-Pepa, one of the most successful rap groups of all time cast a spotlight on racial profiling in “Negro Wit an Attitude” (1990):

Porche, Benz, and BM's are all suitable
For people who sell pharmaceuticals
That's a stereotype, that's the hype
Don't ask me why I have an attitude (all right)…
The cops are surprised to see a minority
Behind the wheel of this car, it must be narcotics
How else could she have got it?
A brown-skinned female with two problems to correct
Wrong color, wrong sex

Salt-N-Pepa gave voice to an issue that has affected young people since before the Civil Rights Movement, and after, while also acknowledging gender discrimination, which they have surely experienced on both sides of the color line. In his, “I Have a Dream” Speech, King observed, “There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied?’ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

In 1991, Rodney King was beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Department of Police. The subsequent acquittal of three of the four officers in 1992, set off a devastating riot while I was on the other side of the country in my high school in Greenville, North Carolina. I wanted to discuss the trial and the events that were unfolding in South Central L.A., but my history teacher said the situation had nothing to do with us. I can not remember exactly what I said, but I remember thinking, “You may not feel that this has anything to do with you, but a U.S. court has just said that it’s okay to beat a black man for speeding. It has a lot to do with me.” The youth of L.A. were dissatisfied and so was I.

But, were Dr. King alive then, he would have denounced violence as a means to oppose the racial and economic injustice that preceded the South Central riots, and had erupted in the Watts section of L.A. and other urban areas across the country in Dr. King’s own lifetime. King did not just challenge the violence committed by the black youth of his day, he confronted what he perceived as the unnecessary aggression of the government as well. The following is a passage from one of King’s most important speeches, called “Beyond Vietnam,” but is seldom quoted during our holiday celebrations:

As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they ask -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

This is the King that makes us uncomfortable, yet this is the King that the Hip-Hop generation is waiting to discover.

***

I work for an organization called GenerationEngage that is working to get young people more involved in our democracy through voting, civic education and access to political leaders so that they can participate in the dialog that makes democracy possible through the exchange of ideas and political solutions. As a graduate student of theology, I am inspired by the role that the church has played in our history to bring about a greater level of justice for all citizens. I am hoping that more people from all religious traditions and those who claim no religion at all will ask themselves, “What can I do, to make my community, my country, and my world a little bit better?”

We need not wait any longer for a Movement to come or a Leader to emerge. Dr. King talked about a revolution that was on the verge of erupting and still rages today. He said:

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.

During his lifetime Tupac surveyed the political landscape and concluded in his song "Changes": "…although it seems heaven sent / We ain't ready, to see a black President," (1998 Release). Whether or not that analysis holds true today remains to be seen. But, regardless of who becomes our next president, whether it is an African-American, a woman or yet another Caucasian man, there will be work for all of us do. We must hold our political leaders accountable to the promises they make. We have to vigorously educate ourselves, and each other, about the social and political issues of our day so that we can be informed citizens. After studying and deliberating on public policy, we must applaud that which makes us a more equitable, peaceful and prosperous nation and critique that which does not. Sometimes, we have to agree to disagree, but do not let anyone ever tell you that disagreement or dissent is unpatriotic. King represented the minority opinion on Civil Rights and on the War question. Many called him unpatriotic then. Today he is celebrated as an American hero.

The Hip-Hop Generation must join the world revolution by mobilizing around those issues that each individual feels most passionate about, whether it be reducing homelessness, providing healthcare coverage for every American, and or ensuring that every child not only here, but everywhere, has food to eat and books to read. But, we also have to work together to bring about the change that we want to see. One of my favorite songs of 2007 was “Make Me Better” by Fabolous and Ne-Yo. In the chorus Ne-Yo sings:

I'm a movement by myself
But I'm a force when we're together
Mami, I'm good all by myself
But baby you, you make me better

And my favorite line is when Fabolous says, “I'ma need Coretta Scott, if I'm gonna be King.” The Civil Rights Movement was bigger than Dr. King, and the New Movement is bigger than us. King knew that he could not make the sacrifices he was called to make without the support of his wife Coretta. He also knew that although he became the symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, were it not for the masses of people across the country marching to the same drumbeat of justice, his efforts would have been in vain. So vote, but do more than vote. Mentor a child (that child may be your own). Give to somebody in need. Join an organization that is making a difference in your community. Lift up your voice and let the world know that you are ready to take your rightful place in the New Movement.

Thank you.

---------------------------------------------------------
[1] Cone, James H. Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation, 1968-1998 . Boston: Beacon Press, 1999: 100.
[2] Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005: 73-79.

Ode to Liberia

She is like breathing the air of freedom for the first time
Her story is rich and her future is full of promise
Though we were born on opposite sides of the water
Our countries are both symbols of liberation
My cradle was made in the United States of America
And hers was crafted in Africa

Middle passages across the ocean brought us both to the so-called “land of the free”
My ancestors forcefully taken from their homeland centuries ago
The possibility of a better life inspired her family to take that same path
Before her nation was torn apart by war
One day I hope to kiss the ground that my ancestors walked on
When I look into her almond shaped eyes I see western shores grieved by their tears

My feet have never touched the sand
Nor has my face felt the wind of the motherland
Yet, through long conversations on the phone
Or over a glass of wine after a cheerful toast
My spirit has sailed to that beautiful coast

The hyphen in African-American is more than a bridge of identity and geography
It is a mental and spiritual bond of friendship
Happiness is the sibling of Laughter so she’s like family
I have learned that freedom can be found wherever the soil is fertile
Patience requires that we wait for the seeds we plant to grow
Only then will we see clearly
Only then will we truly know

May God always bless Liberia

Re: My Hiatus

I know many of you are wondering where I have been for the past few months. Well, in addition to working full-time, I am a full-time graduate student and a father. I started a new job several months ago, so work has been especially demanding.

Things should slow down somewhat during the holidays, so I'll try to post some thoughts that have been percolating in my mind and maybe share some lessons learned in my personal life. As always, I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my humble words. Even when I'm not blogging, please be confident that I'm always striving to do the Lord's work, and gaining the experience and inspiration I need to become a better writer.

Grace and Peace,
Rod

Hip-Hop: I Still Love Her

I might've failed to mention that the chick was creative
But once the man got to her, he altered the native
Told her if she got an image and a gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, she's universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs lookin' rock and dressin' hip
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city
Talkin' about poppin' glocks, servin' rocks, and hittin' switches
Now she's a gangsta rollin' with gangsta [chicks]
Always smokin' blunts and gettin' drunk
Tellin' me sad stories, now she only [messes] with the funk
Stressin' how hardcore and real she is
She was really the realest, before she got into show-biz
I did her, not just to say that I did it ...
But I'ma take her back hopin' that the [bull] stop
Cause who I'm talkin' bout y'all is hip-hop

- Common, "I Used to Love H.E.R."


I just finished reading Michael Eric Dyson's new book Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop. Dyson is the first bonafied hip-hop intellectual (or at least the first one with a PhD to obtain a national platform). I read his first book, Reflecting Black, back in 1997 while working on a research paper for a graduate school preparation program created to encourage more minorities to pursue Doctorates in Philosophy and teach in the academy. Dyson's latest offering reminded me why hip-hop continues to be such a vital part of my life, despite it's questionable attributes, and why hip-hop is an art form worthy of critical, objective analysis.

Dyson speaks to the pathologies of hip-hop, but only within the larger context of American society and highlighting it's connections to other cultural institutions. For example, when examining oppressive patriarchy and sexism he draws a parallel between hip-hop and the church:

If hip hop has a theology, it's pretty consistent with the biblical justification of male misbehavior by blaming the seducing female. Now that's not to deny that there's female complicity. We have to ask the hard question of why certain women conform to the vicious images of female sexual identity promoted in misogynistic masculinity. Of course, that's not simply a problem that shows up in hip hop; it's a culture-wide phenomenon. When women go to religious institutions where they hear clergy justify their second-class citizenship, they are conforming to the dominant images of a religious culture that aims to subordinate them. But it's easier to jump on hip hop videos than it is to target sermons of ministers, bishops, imams, and rabbis who reinforce a culture of male privilege and strident patriarchy (110).

While many may reflexively dismiss what Dyson has to say on such matters, if they take time to absorb his reflections, perhaps a little self-criticism will follow not just on a personal level, but on an institutional one as well. Complacency is the failure to recognize that the status quo can always be made better, and by better I mean more equitable and just. This is why the political undercurrent within hip-hop is so important.

In my new role as an Outreach Coordinator with GenerationEngage, I am charged with finding creative ways to get more young adults, 18-29 (and especially those without a traditional college education) more involved in the democratic process. We plan to leverage hip-hop culture, through music, spoken word, film and curriculum to reach young voters and potential voters where they are and help them see how politics is not external to their lives, but is rather an intrinsic part of it, whether it be in the form of music or actual policy. Dyson expounds upon the political capacity of hip-hop in this regard:

At their best, hip hoppers have the potential to raise people's awareness. And I think hip hop, if it will challenge and renew itself in the cycles of history and social struggle, can continue to play a vital role in inspiring young folk to become politically astute human beings and citizens. At its best, hip hop can challenge young folk to fight for what they believe in. And it's important for young folk to understand that unless they contribute to their own freedom and self-determination, that freedom and self-determination will mean little (86).

I believe art like religion, should be judged on the best of it's traditions, not the worse; even if those better manifestations are outnumbered by those of a lesser quality. This is why I still love hip-hop.