TO BE A MAN – Principal Kafele Commentary
The current plight of Black men relative to their own self-development, their relationships with women and their relationships with their children continue to be hot topics of concern, conversation, journalism and debate across the country. In the field of education, there is great concern with about the plight of the Black male student relative to underachievement and the drop out rate. While millions of Black men are in fact doing outstanding things with their lives relative to their self-development, relationships with women and relationships with their children, there are also a sizable number of Black men who require additional guidance, direction and leadership due to a variety of different factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, the lack of proper information and the right role models of success when these men were boys. Said another way, many of the Black men who require further guidance and direction do so because they failed to receive proper information from positive Black male mentors when they were boys. I am a firm believer that Black boys require positive Black male role models and mentors in their lives who will model and demonstrate manhood, while simultaneously providing them with useful information, guidance and direction toward assisting them with making successful transitions from boyhood to positive and productive manhood. In other words, Black boys must be given opportunities to learn from individuals that “look like them,” that they can identify with due to the commonality of being Black males. This does not imply that others don’t have a role to play, but positive Black men are very much needed and required to model manhood for Black boys as well as providing them with the kind of information needed for making good, sound decisions along the way.
On the three pages that follow, entitled: To Be A Man - In Relationship to Himself, To Be a Man - In Relationship to Women, and To Be a Man - In Relationship to His Children, I have endeavored to provide useful information in the form of lists that define manhood that Black men can use for themselves relative to their own self-development, relationships with women and relationships with their children. It is also meant to be used towards mentoring Black boys and Black male youth as it relates to providing them with useful information regarding their future roles as positive and productive Black men.