Many “Men of Matteson” stepped up Thursday morning to discuss the importance of fathers playing larger roles in their children’s lives.
An event at Matteson Elementary School in Matteson, titled “Men of Matteson,” featured award-winning columnist John Fountain, who also is a Roosevelt University professor and author of the memoir “True Vine: A Young Black Man’s Journey of Faith, Hope and Clarity” and “Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood.” He also is a father of a student in Matteson School District 162.
Fountain, who often writes about fatherhood and the impact of being fatherless, discussed growing up poor on Chicago’s West Side, abandoned by his father, and the lessons it taught him.
“If I would have had a father who had given me more than a name, I wonder how much more I would be, rather than too often wounded by failure,” Fountain said. “The greatest calling as men is being a father.
“I only have two memories of my own father,” Fountain said. “One is when I was 4 years old and he was being carried out of our apartment in handcuffs, and the other is when I was 18 at his funeral. He had been gone so long at that point, I’d forgotten what he looked like.”
Fountain, who is working on two more books scheduled for release this fall, emphasized that men who didn’t know their fathers well had to heal and become better fathers to their own children.
“Fathers are critical to a child’s success, and showing up is the most important thing,” Fountain said. “It’s all about presence, not presents.”
Fountain asked all the assembled fathers, uncles, older brothers and other relatives to pledge to read to children. He also acknowledged them for taking part.
“It’s all about showing up and playing a vital role in these children’s lives,” he said.
Fountain lives within the school district with his wife, Monica, and their two children — one a graduate of Southland College Prep Charter High School and the other currently in elementary school. Fountain’s wife said he does more than just talk about fatherhood; he lives it.
“He has always been a man who has loved and sacrificed for his children,” Monica said. “He is a provider, a protector, a teacher, a counselor, a coach and always an advocate and cheerleader for our children. He always puts his family first.
“He is a father not only to his own children, but to other children in his family and community,” she said.
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“Men of Matteson” is one in a series of annual days involving moms and dads that several District 162 schools schedule, typically at the beginning of the school year, district spokesman Dick Barry said.
This was the first event that focused on fathers creating and reading pledges to their children, according to Matteson Elementary School Principal Pamela Powell.
Kelly White is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.