Being A Good Father is Not A Choice

Hardy L. Brown

When I got into high school he took the position of sharecropper on the Whittaker farm to further teach me leadership skills and patience with people. I think the real reason was to keep me out of trouble with nothing to do as a teenager because I did not want to go. The other reason was to see God at work when it comes to relying on God to provide rain, wind, and sunshine which makes crops grow. This was the greatest lesson because God is as regular as clock work with spring, summer, autumn and winter and He always comes on time. My father would let me hire, supervise and pay the field hands during the summer and told me to always treat the workers with respect. He also told me to be a creator of jobs verses always looking for a job. That is one of the reasons we are in business today. Another reason is my late father-in-law Marvin Minter. When the government laid off many of the Blacks at Norton Air Force Base, Marv went to Los Angeles and opened his own tax business which his sons Fred and Dexter carry on today. These men would get knocked down by the system and they would just create another one and keep on providing for their families. The world did not and still does not understand these men and how they were treated by society yet they provided for us because their love for us was greater than those who hated them. This is the group of men who fought for this country and denied their civil rights once they returned home. Mr. Charles Ledbetter, an air force military Tuskegee Airman, was just awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor but only after his death. Mr. Ledbetter was another father to me with advice on the political happens of Moreno Valley when he was a weekly writer for the Black Voice News.

My father also told me before I left home, "son it is important for you to get your own piece of land because you never know when the land holder will ask you to leave if it is his. Plus it will limit your ability to speak your mind on issues. That is the reason I brought this land here on Back Street," he told me. I saw him raise chickens, hogs, goats, grow vegetables in the garden and house other livestock on that small piece of land. He would send away each year and have chicks sent by mail for us to raise. He taught me the responsibility of providing for your family.

So to answer Regina's question, I was trained to be the kind of father that I am. I wanted a business because I knew society might ask me off the farm plus I wanted to provide employment for my children. My father said when you speak your mind your landlord may be encouraged by others to ask you off. I was PTA president in order to ensure my children would not be denied a quality education. I became a leader in the church to teach my children about God and the role Faith in Christ will have on their quality of life on earth with their sights set on the higher kingdom where no man can reach. I became involved in social issues because it is important to assist our neighbors in issues that impact us collectively, plus government functions best when all citizens participate. The last reason I choose to be a father is because I wanted to make sure these wonderful children of mine fully understand my spiritual father, our creator. It is a mystery how one father of so many can love each child so differently yet love each one equally no matter what they do. Then when grandchildren come along grandparents go crazy. Happy Father's Day.