By Briana Booker

 Today President Obama’s administration will be holding a gathering for children, celebrity dads and nonprofit groups to promote fatherhood to highlight the importance of fathers.

The event is a day long celebration. A speech at the ARC, an arts and recreation campus in Southeast Washington, DC. President Obama will  announce the creation of the President’s Fatherhood and Mentoring initiative. This will be part of his family policy and White House’s Office of  Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

This new initiative will be a network of organizations expanding on six-city listening tours to bring attention to the problem of fatherlessness.

I believe this is a great initiative! Anyone can have sex,but it takes a real man to be a father. It takes responsibility and maturity to practice good fatherhood. Father absence is a real challenge in many communities, especially black communities.

On average, 24 million children last year did not live with their biological fathers, as shown by census figures. This is strongly shown in low-income demographics for every 2 out of 3 children.
President Obama will be asking congress to move $500 million to a Fatherhood, Marriage and Families innovation fund. This includes better job training programs and economic incentives for dads.

Be on the look out for the administration e-newsletter from the Fatherhood.gov Website, emphasizing the role of fathers in families and offering parenting tips. In addition check out the associations of the NFL Players and National Parent Teachers that will help promote this initiative.