ACADEMY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FATHERS Inc.

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ACADEMY OF AFRICAN AMERICANFATHERS Inc.

• Program Presentation
• 2007-2008

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About the Academy

• The Academy of African American Fathers is about
  strengthening fathers through the introduction of
  new skills, thoughts and possibilities, that will
  allow a significant change to take place in their
  lives and in the lifestyle choices of the
  participants.

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Mission of the Academy

• Our mission is like every other mission of those
  practitioners around the country who operate
  fatherhood programs and initiatives.
• We want to change the negative consequences of
  the participants that directly affects their
  abilities to be a responsible parent and a
  meaningful father figure.

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Our Mission Points

• To create a new opportunity for practitioners,
  agencies and organizations to develop a more
  meaningful program that will allow a better
  understanding of parenting responsibility from a
  cultural perspective.
• To foster positive changes in the attitudes
  towards parental responsibility and
  accountability.

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Our mission points cont.

• To foster change in the negative consequences of
  families by assisting and introducing new
  commitments and alliances with programs and
  agencies that service fathers and their families
  for a more friendly experience.
• To Foster change in the mind set and thinking of
  participates and those that suffer negative
  consequences through their lifestyle choices.

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The Academy is Unique and Why

• We are unique because
• We approach parenthood from a cultural
  perspective, therefore, we believe that parenting
  programs should reflect the cultural aspect of
  the participants in the program.
• We focus on the mind set of the individual and
  not just the social aspect of parenting, which
  could bring a positive change in the way a
  participants view their responsibilities in
  general.

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We are unique and why

• We are a program that is culturally grounded in
  our instructor trainings ,instructors skills and
  lesson plans to fortify our participants in the
  Academy programs and to give them a better
  knowledge of self and to build upon their
  motivation and desire to change.
• We help develop the skills of participants in
  order that they may gain a better understanding
  of the true meaning of fatherhood and reap the
  benefits of becoming a responsible parent.

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We are unique and why

• We are an African American cultural based program
  with culturally based lesson plans and skills,
  coming from the African American experience of
  parenting.
• Our instructors and trainers are African American
  men and women with the knowledge of the African
  American family life experience.

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Lets Chat and Learn a Lesson!

• Lesson 1
• Programs Fail when they refuse to recognize that
  parenting is cultural in nature.

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Compare cultural programs to non-cultural programs

• Cultural Based programs

• Non-Cultural Based programs

• Participants have like kind experiences and can
  relate to each others issues and ethnical
  challenges.
• Trainer and instructors are fathers and sons and
  have had the same and or like kind experience as
  a parent faced with the same challenges as their
  participants.

• Participants vary in background and their
  parenting style varies from culture to culture
  making it complicated for everyone to participate
  or relate to challenges.
• Trainers vary and therefore relating to each
  participants experience and challenges are
  limited and therefore ineffective to assisting
  all.

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Compare

• Cultural based programs

• Non-Cultural based programs

• Unique problems can a have main focus because
  there are issues common to all participants.
• Each participate can address concerns that all
  can relate to and focus on the challenges of
  those issue in a more meaningful way that allows
  each one to teach one and give credence to
  possibilities and solutions.

• There is no affective unique focus, other than
  the responsibility and accountability aspect of
  parenting, therefore participants are unable to
  relate to each other.
• Is a disservice to the participants because it
  disregards the essence of family life through the
  eyes of the participants family legacy and denies
  the opportunity to allow the participants to get
  back to themselves.

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Opportunity

• The Academy of African American Fathers has
  opportunity for all to grow and prosper! The
  benefits are endless and the possibilities are
  infinite!
• Yes, everyone benefits from change and as the
  saying goes people make communities..communities
  dont make people(unknown author).
• Lets now explorer the benefits for those who are
  affected the most by fatherhood inability and/or
  neglect of duty

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The African American Male

• The 1 person who suffers negative consequences
  that affects his whole family lifestyle

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Historically Speaking

• African American men
• took care of their children with little or
  nothing going as far back as slavery days.
  However, when certain systems were put in place,
  coupled with certain other factors, the African
  American fathers became disconnected from family
  values that depended on their support and was, in
  a sense, replaced by a more seemingly reliable
  source of support for families in needthe state
  sponsored welfare system!

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The economic factor

• Most of the African American Fathers in need of
  services are low income, unemployed, unemployable
  and without the skills that would allow them to
  feed a family.
• With the cost of living going up everyday the
  challenge to keep at a trailing pace seems
  insurmountable and therefore motivation is
  lacking. Nobody is planning or thinking about
  buying a home or going to college, or sending
  their children to college, if that person dont
  have the skills to command a salary that supports
  their theory.
• What other economic factors are there? The list
  is very long, however, criminal background, lack
  of knowledge and the lack of earning living wages
  are major!

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The Social Factor

• When a father is unable to provide for his
  children, for whatever the reason may be, his
  attitude towards that responsibility is not
  positive. He do not feel sufficient and, in most
  cases, his attitude towards any kind of
  responsibility, whatever or wherever it may be,
  is affected.
• He removes himself from that situation to relieve
  himself from the pressures that follow from the
  mother of those children , from his children, and
  the agencies that enforce child support, the
  financial obligation of the his responsibility.
• He is then labeled ,misunderstood, incarcerated
  and in some cases loses his parental rights over
  his children, furthering his disconnectedness.
  Even those who are supportive feels the affects
  of unsupportive fathers when they face legal
  agencies ,due in part to misinformation about
  African American men and their children.

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The Legal factor

• To the pointfamily courts, Congress, states and
  local towns and the laws that govern family life
  has failed! Most dont have a clue as to the
  real issues and they only seek to compensate
  and satisfy through a monetary means. There are
  those who believe that parenthood can be forced
  upon an individual.
• Incarcerating a father who fails to provide is
  nonsense! These agencies, because they lack a
  sufficient plan that is viable and available to
  their disposal, try to force fathers to do
  something lots of them have never experienced.
• Some even have been abandoned themselves by
  their own father. They are simply a product of
  their own lack of direction and role model of
  being and having a supportive male parent or male
  figure in their life.

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The Consequences

• As a consequence the government, federal, state
  and locals are upset and unfriendly with those
  who they feel are not producing. The laws main
  function and concern is financial in nature and
  in the best interest of the child, therefore
  everything else has less importance.
• The court is bogged down with litigation and
  enforcement, sending those to jail, who do not
  comply, even if they are unable, and setting bad
  law that works against change.
• The negative are highlighted and any positive
  goes unmentioned because it is about money and
  not all the nonmonetary efforts one may have made
  to support his children.
• The court needs some new direction and an
  opportunity to get it right for the best interest
  of the children and the best interest of families
  and the communities at large.

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consequence cont.

• African American men, in particular, are more
  likely to be incarcerated for something other
  than trying to support their children. They are
  frustrated by the systems that they dont
  understand.
• They are unable to understand why they dont
  understand and they act according to how
  frustrated they are about themselves and the
  plight of most men in their peer groups.
• They continue to face incarceration, violence
  committed against each other, lack of motivation
  and self-esteem, lack of confidence, domestic
  violence, gang warfare, police misconduct, family
  disconnect, drug and alcohol abuse, health
  issues, misinformation and finally a program do
  not have the ability to address their real
  need..to be themselves again!
• All related to their lifestyle choices.

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The Change of Course

• In order to change we must first accept.
• Acceptance comes after understanding.
• Understanding comes from being properly informed
  about the facts of the matter and the truth of
  the matter.
• Truth comes about by way of being just and fair
  about what is and what is not.
• Fairness comes from those who see things for what
  they are and act accordingly.

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Academy of African American Fathers

• The opportunity to bring positive change in the
  fatherhood experience
• Through meaningful training and enlightenments

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Our Seven Core Concepts

• The seven core concepts that is the basis of our
  Academy makes up the one main concept of the
  program
• SELF ACTUALIZTIONS
• Self actualizations are designed to be a road
  map toward the main goal and the main objective
  of the individual on an individual basis. Each
  segment is approximately two course hours each to
  be performed in a 12 week period. This is
  accompanied by lectures, audio and video
• presentations and group activity and group
  participation.

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What do Self Actualizations Do

• They are designed specifically to address the
  personal issues of African American males, in
  particular, as individuals and as people,
• hence the name self-actualization.
• The seven Self actualization are

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Recognize Self

• To develop a greater understanding of the plight
  of African American men and to examine the
  educational, economical, health and medicine,
  religious ,political, family and community aspect
  of himself and others like him

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Realize Self

• To identify the problems or potential problems as
  individuals and as a group

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Evaluate Self

• To have individuals examine themselves, their own
  thoughts and their own feelings

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Disclose Self

• To give an opportunity for individuals a chance
  to challenge their own thoughts and feelings and
  compare both old and new philosophies

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Plan Self

• To teach problem solving skills and other life
  skills necessary to evaluate situation for more
  positive consequence

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Commit Self

• To introduce the acceptance of responsibilities
  and the importance of being responsible and
  feeling confident about commitment

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Build Self

• To learn to maintain and participate in civic
  duties to self, family and positive community
  lifestyle choices

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What you can do as a provider or agency wanting
to explore further for opportunities with the
Academy of African American Fathers

• Engage your program administrators, schools,
  churches, prisons, courts, social service
  agencies and fellow fatherhood programs and
  initiatives to consider an Academy to address the
  needs of a large population of African American
  that you serve. Most of all, talk to your African
  American clientele, they truly know what they
  want.

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Contact UsWe provide consultation services

• Antonio Celester
• Founder/Director of Programs
• 617-825-4113
• Blackfathersinc_at_hotmail.com

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Academy of African American Fathers

• Fatherhood Training Pilot Program
• Antonio Celester,
• Founder/Director of Programs Development

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Project Goals

• To establish a pilot program in fatherhood
  training and development to be a model for
  future programs and their implementation.
• To train Instructors and fathers in the said
  program to further their understanding of their
  responsibility and assist in their individual
  development.
• To maintain and keep records of the overall
  progress.

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Description

• To set up training classes for fathers to be
  conducted with a maximum of 15 participants per
  class.
• To establish a training class for staff members
  and those, who will continue to run the program
  operations on a continued and on going basis.

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The Training and Course Synopsis

• The course and training will consist of a series
  of lesson plans, lectures and exercises, each
  having a specific objective.
• Participants of the instructors training will
  participant in a more detailed lesson plan
  training in order to be more familiarized with
  the theoretic understanding of the program
  philosophy of the Academys mission.
• The instructor training is approximately 100
  class hours,60 in class and 40 in the field as a
  assistant and upon a satisfactory completion
  would be certified by the Academy as a program
  instructor and trainer.

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Training course synopsis cont.

• Father participants will under go a complete
  training course of 150 class room hours and 50
  non class room hours to successfully complete the
  core skills and lesson plans.
• Participants will be awarded a certificate of
  completion at graduation ceremonial event to
  recognize their achievement.
• All course and presentations will be conducted by
  one or more qualified persons of the Academy of
  African American Fathers.
• In addition, quest and other presentations will
  be announced by the program director.

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Contact

• If you would like to get more information on how
  you can start a pilot program in your area
  contact Antonio at 617-825-4113.
• Blackfathersinc_at_hotmail.com
• Antonio Celester
• Director of Programs