These Powerful Photos Will Challenge All Your Notions of Black Fatherhood

Impact

Even though research from the U.S. government shows that most myths about black fatherhood are false, they persist. Even famous rappers with kids buck these myths. To challenge those myths, the Campaign for Black Male Achievement released a series of photos highlighting black family life. 

The campaign coupled each photo, shot by photographer Zun Lee, with a statistic from a CDC study about black fatherhood. 

1. Black dads are more involved with their kids on a daily basis than dads from other racial groups. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

2. Black fathers ate meals with their young children more than their white and Latino counterparts.

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

3. Black fathers also escorted their 5-to-18-year-old children to activities more than fathers of other races. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

4. More black fathers live with their kids than live apart from them. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

5. Over 70 percent of black dads bathe, diaper or dress their children every day. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

6. For those black fathers who did live separate from their children, they read to their kids, changed diapers and helped with homework more often than other dads. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

7. A higher percentage of black fathers — 40.6 percent — help with homework or check homework than white fathers. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

8. A higher percentage of black fathers — 34.9 percent — read to their kids daily than white fathers. 

Zun Lee/Campaign for Black Male Achievement

Twitter users who wish to contribute to fighting myths of black fatherhood have used the hashtag #BlackMaleReimagined to share their own photos.