Fathers Leading Fathers
Dear parents,
I recently participated in a Zoom call led by Marya Axner (the International Liberation Reference Person for Parents). She was assisted by Chuck Esser (the International Commonality Reference Person for Family Work) and Joel Nogic (an Area Reference Person and Regional Reference Person in Massachusetts, USA). The call was for fathers who are leading fathers in the wide world. Thirty-five men participated, from Nigeria, Swaziland, Israel, Canada, England, and the United States. They are leading other fathers in their workplaces, neighborhoods, religious communities, and households and in the RC Community.
It was uplifting to connect with men who are committed to sharing with other fathers what we know about parents’ liberation, men’s liberation, and family work. Marya led with warmth, openness, and confidence in us as fathers. She pointed out our centrality in our families and our significance in the above linked liberations. Marya, Chuck, and Joel communicated the importance of fathers’ connections to each other as we do this work.
Many of us do this work understanding that being a father is a big opening for men’s liberation. As fathers we get to care deeply for our children, so our hearts are more out in the open [visible] than men’s oppression seems to allow. Fathers are also challenged by the labor of parenting and by parents’ oppression and as a result are often more receptive to RC theory and practice.
I look forward to more chances to build fathers’ liberation together.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of parents
(Present Time 203, April 2021)