Too many sermons on Father’s Day seem to focus on the black father’s need to engage his children because he’s shirked responsibility.

This viewpoint about black fatherhood is a well-established structure of thought, with a host of supporting beliefs that reinforce it like rebar in a concrete slab: society is devastated because the majority of African American fathers are not at home nor involved in the lives of their children.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Fathers’ Involvement with Their Children” (yes, the CDC tracks data and researches topics like this), verify that the majority of black fathers actually live with their children (2.5 million versus 1.7 million who don’t).

Research by scholars like Waldo E. Johnson Jr., Ph.D., professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, leads in efforts to re-educate about black fatherhood, and also brings notice to the men who stand in as genuine, authentic father figures for children who have lost fathers for whatever reasons.

Speak to the power of how millions of African American men and dozens of programs, like The Chicago Fathers and Sons Project and Real Men Cook (which I participated in for five years), are shedding light on the actual truth: most black children are not fatherless and Black American fatherhood is very much alive!