The majority culture thinks it knows about how men of color are as fathers: absent at best. We know as well as you do that stereotype just isn’t true. We knew that if we asked the moms out there about the fathers of their children, we’d get plenty of great stories to highlight fatherhood on this Fathers’ Day. Here are just two stories among the thousands across Madison, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the United States. Email your story to [email protected] for us to include next year!
Sinafik: Soulful and Passionate
At the fifteen-year mark of our relationship we became parents. All the birth books and planning in the world could not prepare us for the overwhelming emotions that greeted us.
The years of growing up together in hardship, struggles, heartache focused into him coaching me through each contraction, his eyes holding my own and helping me when I was weaker and more vulnerable than I even knew how to describe; giving birth to our son.
He hands out The Birth Partner to every future father he meets now, encouraging them to take an active role in ushering their children into this world.
Sinafik as a father is true to his word, giving, soulful, and passionate about what he believes in. Not a whole lot different really than how he was before, but now with so much more meaning and intensity. Our now two-year- old son’s favorite song is “Georgia on my Mind” by Ray Charles. They make me smile when we are in the kitchen pulling together dinner after a long day.
Thank you honey, for being the best Father I could ever ask for.
The Wonder Dad, Shaine
I marvel at him often. I think of him always. I love him eternally. Our children adore him completely. I cannot put into words how amazing a man he is, but I’ll try…
His name is Shaine Kimble. We live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but he is originally from Mobile, Alabama. We have two children. Our daughter Sarai is 12, and our son Christian is 5. They admire their Father beyond words, and Christian always says, “I wanna be just like my Daddy!”
One outstanding thing about my husband is he grew up in abject poverty, and his single mother struggled to take care of him and his siblings. He never met or knew his father, and his step-fathers were extremely abusive. He NEVER had a stable, loving example of a Father, let alone a Dad. He broke that cycle!!! I marvel at the compassion, love and nurturing that envelop his entire being.
I have often wondered how a man with scars, real scars, could heal others’. I’ve wondered how one could look beyond a circumstance and see a possible outcome. How a man could never place blame above the opportunity for forgiveness. Shaine Kimble has answered all of those questions with complete love that only he could give.
Shaine is the kindest, most loving, most present, and supportive Dad and husband whom I have ever encountered. He is our rock. He is steady, rooted and grounded in the Word of God, faithful, and humble. I just can’t tell you… He has led our family through losses of children, illness, a massive housefire, and financial struggle. He has also ushered us through the miracle of the births of our two children, great triumphs, and all of the wonderful things that we have experienced over our 17 years of marriage!
Thank you for the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate our gift on Father’s Day!!!
