You ever look around a room and wonder, how did I get here? That’s where I found myself yesterday evening as I sat around a table of engaged citizens for our city’s strategic planning committee. I mean, technically I know how I got there. A few weeks ago my city council representative called me and asked me to represent our district on this committee given my community engagement. But, as I looked around the table and listened to the introductions of business owners, grassroots organizers, nonprofit leaders, I was impressed. It quickly became clear to me that this would be a meeting where my biggest contribution just might be silence. And to think, I wasn’t even going to go because I was “too busy”.

Over the weekend I read a moving editorial on our local paper about why every Black father must vote. I agree with much of what was shared by Kenneth Braswell, CEO of Fathers Incorporated and leader of the initiative Black Dads Count. While Black fathers have historically played an important role in advocacy efforts (Medgar Evers comes to mind for example), there’s growing concern that our numbers are down when it comes to voter registration and participation. It’s clear that we’ve got some work to do when it comes to showing up consistently. There are plenty of think pieces out there about concerns that black men, and young black men in particular might be a lost cause. Last night for me told a different story, one that gives me hope about how to reach young black men, and black fathers in particular.

I sat across the table from a young Black man in his early twenties and he was by far the most passionate voice in the room. He spoke of his family moving out to South Fulton as Atlanta started shuttering all the housing projects in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was that kid that suddenly went from living in a densely populated area with access to public transportation to attending a school with cows and a working farm across the street. His level of analysis about what was happening and why was impressive. Today he’s a small business owner himself and his entrepreneurial spirit is just what our city needs.

When our conversation shifted towards the growing scourge of warehouses and data centers in our community creating environmental concerns, he had an opinion saying, they’re putting these places here in our city because they’re looking for worker bees. Everyone here my age knows that when we see a warehouse go up right next to our schools and neighborhoods, thats where they’re telling us to go work. He spoke of the variety of jobs in IT he’s worked since graduating from Langston Hughes (a local high school), and the knowledge he’s gained about how we don’t control our city’s water or power grid. He offered opinions about why our zoning didn’t make sense and how ultimately, our lack of control over our own infrastructure might be our biggest liability. Talk about value added to the conversation as we identified emerging priorities, he was our youth voice.

Myself included, there were 3 Black men at the table, 1 white male, and the 7 Black women. I spent most of the conversation listening to the stories of people’s experience as long time residents in the city. One elder spoke of the need to create a stronger identity across the city, something we could be known for. Another cautioned us that our city is still relatively young at only 7 years old, so we must have patience. No one expected the other majority white run cities to develop perfectly, so why heap unrealistic expectations on ourselves? I loved every minute of the conversation. When I finally offered a few thoughts, it was towards the end when we began to review perception data from residents about our current progress. My overall goal for participation is to ensure that the community we’re planning for continues to make room for all of us.

I’m glad I made the time to attend. Sure, there was plenty of things I could have done instead, but when I weigh the impact, I was in the right place at the right time. Last night also got me thinking about how to bring these conversations back to the other spaces that I’m a part of. On Sundays I play basketball with a group of mostly black fathers. I’ll start there. My wife and I host a small group gathering of couples and families in our home on a bi-weekly basis. That’s another opportunity to plant seeds of engagement. In fact, one of the black men recently asked if he could attend a city council meeting with me. Braswell wrote in his article, as fathers, we play a profound role in families and communities. Though the daily responsibilities of fatherhood keep us busy providing care, love and guidance, an essential aspect of fatherhood often goes overlooked: civic engagement. I see civic engagement as a key part of my responsibility as a father. I can’t wait until next week’s meeting.

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