A father-son heart-to-heart for Father's Day
Huey Freeman speaks under the proud gaze of Pharaoh Hamid Freeman of the One Full Circle Community (Photo: Alex Jules).
Starting tough but necessary conversations. This was the goal behind the 1st Conversation père-fils, held on Sunday June 16 at Groupe 3737's offices in Montreal.
"This event really aimed to create, to start a movement, a healthy relationship between fathers and sons," Will Baptiste, president and founder of Rising Men Alliance, explained.
Through testimonials and workshops from various speakers, participants had the chance to explore their vision of fatherhood, the foundational nature of the father-child bond, and the importance of valuing the father's role. The event also provided opportunities for frank discussions on discipline, vulnerability, communication, and much more.
"My simple message to men would be 'it's okay to take care of themselves, whether spiritually, mentally, physically, or financially. We have to take care of ourselves. The more we can take care of ourselves, the more we're going to be there for our family, our children and our community," Mr. Baptiste insisted.
One of the workshops provided a real-time demonstration of the power of recognition for a father. Invited to simply compliment his own, rapper MC God Soldier received a ful-on declaration in return, his father expressing his sincere desire to have "a better relationship with my son".
"These are things we don't do at home. We don't tell our kids we love them often enough. We don't spend enough time building a healthy relationship with our kids [...] I don't have my kids right now, and I would have loved to hold them, tell them I love them, and really take the time for them to understand that even if Dad isn't there, he loves you and thinks about you very much."
Safe space
For Rising Men Alliance, the event fell squarely in line with its mission to create a safe space for men to discuss issues in a healthy, non-judgmental way. Amongst other things, the organization holds conferences and radio broadcasts, where it discusses sometimes taboo subjects and positive reinforcement for men's mental health and self-fulfilment.
"Very often, men, we're seen as robots: 'You've got to do this, you've got to do that, you're a provider'. But being an provider isn't just about money. To be productive, to be able to prosper, you have to be in good mental and physical health," Rising Men Alliance vice-president Bruneau Dessin pointed out.
The goal behind this project is to make men understand that: Hey, stop just focusing on what you do, you also need to focus on who you are. Get to know yourself, your identity.
From as far away as Oregon, motivational speaker, counselor and author Erick Allen aka EA was delighted to see the "best gang" -fatherhood- celebrated in this way. "On Mother's Day, they have bells and whistles - jewelry, commercials, dinner dates and all that. But for Father's Day, we get a 'Happy Father's Day' and that's it. So when Will told me his idea of changing the narrative with a father-son conversation, it's a great opportunity. There's nothing like it, it's a first," EA remarked.
