Heres something that single parents might likewill like. ____________________________________________________________ . The following is a transcript from a monologue given by Prentice Powell on the Arsenio Hall show earlier this year. His words are quite powerful. The video link is pasted down below. The transcript is provided by the website Prezi. . Good Father by Prentice Powell . I’m tired of us always having to prove our love to our sons. . One of the biggest complements I get a lot of the times is how great of a father I am. They see pictures on the internet and people complement you a lot because they see photos. And honestly, sometimes, I wanna tell people, “Don’t tell me I’m a good father when you don’t know anything about me”. Fun loving daddy and son pictures on the Facebook page do not equate to instilling values into your child’s development. . And the fact that I’m black should be irrelevant when it comes to my ability to raise my son. My skin tone should not make me any better or worse when it comes to paternal instinct, but because fathers like me are apparently extinct I get asked for praise. And for what? For doing what I’m supposed to do? From strangers? . Strangers who don’t know when my son was born, I only got him from 12 noon on Saturdays to 5 p.m. on Sundays, went to the court to get more time, came back with 12 noon on Saturdays to 5 p.m. on Sundays, plus child support, fought for a year, had him for a year and half, if not more, had him 50 percent of the time, if not more, only to lose him when he started school to summer time and rotating in the holidays. . So when you see me in the streets with my little one and wanna say, “It’s so good seeing a father doing his job spending that quality time”, don’t because I am being robbed, robbed of the greatest gift. . Forced to live through pictures on an IPhone, to recognize the touch of my lips more than they do my fingertips. And the smell of his lotion everyday I rub into my skin so when I smell myself, I think of him. . Forced to live through memories that occur in a span of one week, through occasional web cam chat with a child too young to speak back so when he reaches to you through that camera, all you can say is, “Son, I miss you too”. . Or learn watching your son learn how to ride a bike, via Skype, in the hands of another man, and even though he is a good man and you are glad he’s around, that man is not you. . And not letting his mother know that all this is getting to you, so you get up to grab some tissue because at all times that distance of 3,117.4 miles can feel more like 3 million. . Try dropping your son off at the airport with 3 teeth in his mouth, go 4 weeks and come back with 5, and see if you don’t beat yourself up for not being around during that time. So don’t tell me I’m a good father when you don’t know anything about me. . Try to convince the court that knows nothing about you that you are simply worthy of time. . See thousands of people inspired by your story, but still feel that you are getting nowhere. . Have people motivated by the pain that sits right here everyday inside of your chest and that same pain be the reflection of the amount of love that you possess. I want you to imagine your newborn baby sleep. . You’re watching him, trying to get his sleep patterns down pat, praying to God you get it right because you have 1 night not to go, 6 days until you get him back, imagine. . Being able to fly through this world, doing what you love to do but because of a court order your son, before the age of 1, has to fly twice a month and may mean by the age of 2, he’ll have more frequent fly miles than you. . Try never spending a day in your life locked up in prison and still watch your child grow up primarily through photos. . Learn about his milestones via text message or Facebook and see if you don’t feel numb. So, how can I smile when people tell me I’m such a good father, when I feel like I’m not given enough time to actually be one. . Raise your son without feeling like you actually raised him. . And I know everything in this world doesn’t always go the way we plan and I can accept that. All that’s fine. I just don’t understand how a man can be forced to pay half of day care, half of medical expenses, food, clothes, water, but the same man that laid down to create that child is not automatically given half of the time. Something about that situation is not right. . And when I’m done with this poem - I mean this - I don’t care if any of you clap, I just want my praise, my kudos, my air, my earth, my water, my drive, my moon, my son, my baby, my motivation, my son. I just want my chance. I just want my son, Justice Prentice Powell. I want my baby . . . back. https://youtube/watch?v=A-mJUcWpg1U
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 01:45:07 +0000
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