Local News in Virginia
Part II: Fatherhood Initiative Offers Hope To Portsmouth Dads
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These Portsmouth fathers tell stories that are not new. Black fathers who retreated from fatherhood and marriage are the subject of a landmark 2014 documentary by Zun Lee, titled Father Figure: Exploring Alternate Notions of Black Fatherhood.
Stamped on Lee’s face are African and Asian features. He was in his 30’s when his Korean mother confessed to him that his biological father was a black man with whom she had a brief affair. And this is why Lee said he aimed his camera lens in on an “epidemic” in African-descended communities. Black fathers are often invisible but strive to be providers and protectors for their children.
Determined to move past the physical and verbal abuse he endured from the Korean father who raised him, Lee produced his documentary to understand his own past. Now a photographer and physician based in Toronto, Lee said his documentary challenge myths.
Black men wear masks. Black fathers wear masks to shield themselves from being portrayed as villains and caricatures, Lee said after he produced his documentary.”There was a lot of anger, resentment and confusion on my part. But it was easy for me to hang on to that hurt.”
Black fathers may surface as irresponsible and absent figures in the media. Black fathers may look like “deadbeats” in the media, Lee said. “But I saw an opportunity to find a connection or resolution to the feelings that I had towards the father I’ve never known.”
“A lot of these assumptions were shattered by being in the presence of these fathers (in the documentary). Just observing how they parent. A lot of them had very difficult situations yet they still found a way to make fatherhood work,” Lee said.
