The first day of school began at
4 a.m. Tuesday for Gibson McIntyre and his son Chevaun, a 9-year-old
who attends Price Elementary in Chicago.Gibson McIntyre and his son, Chevaun, 9, arrive Tuesday at Price Elementary School in Chicago for the first day of school. The father and son were among the participants in the Million Father March, which originated in Chicago.
McIntyre ironed Chevaun's uniform -- blue trousers and white polo shirt -- and cooked his breakfast. He helped him make a brown bag lunch and scribbled a list of emergency phone numbers on a ripped-out notebook paper to stuff in his backpack.
He then did something leaders in the black community say fewer and fewer black men do: He walked his son to school.
"I'm trying to provide discipline and structure in my son's life," McIntyre said. "I'm getting him ready for the world."
The McIntyres joined hundreds of other fathers and sons across the city -- and, organizers say, thousands across the world -- who participated in the Million Father March.
The march began in the basement of a South Side Chicago church seven years ago, when a small group of men were looking for a structured way to get black men involved in their children's lives.
About 600 cities across the world now participate in the event, said organizer Phillip Jackson, who also runs the Black Star Project. About 100 public, private and charter schools in the Chicago area took part in this year's march in some way, Jackson said.
Click here to read more
Source: Chicago Tribune |
Comments |  RSS |
|
