2020-06-21

On this Fathers’ Day, we are grateful to all the fathers, including Black fathers, Brown fathers, fathers who grieve, fathers who parent on their own, fathers who go to protests, fathers who are barely making it, fathers who do the daily work of assuring their children that their lives matter, unemployed fathers, undocumented fathers. On this Fathers’ Day, we look towards a future in which no father will need to reassure his or anyone else’s children that their lives matter. On this Fathers’ Day, we are lifted by the words of Michael Preacely: opera singer, fellow Lexingtonian, and loving father. Michael: “Why they matter? They live, they breath, they think, they learn, they laugh, they cry, they are creative, they are talented, they are smart, they ARE my sons. When they first came into this world, I wanted to hold them, to love them, to teach them, and to PROTECT them. As they grow, I want to make sure that what they experience, will shape them into the men that they will become. An artist, a lawyer, a doctor, a politician, a man that will make a DIFFERENCE and CHANGE THE WORLD. I take my job seriously and believe that their lives rest not only in my hands but also in God’s hands. It is through Christ that I live, move, and have my being. I want my boys to see Christ through me, so that when they feel like the path that I have laid out for them may be fuzzy, their path with Christ is clear. At times, they may feel like what they do and who they are may not matter. However it is through words of affirmation, they realize that they do matter. They are strong. They have the confidence that will enable them to conquer whatever obstacles they face. Who are they? They are my sons: Joshua Michael, Benjamin Shawn, and Jayce Bryson Nathaniel, and I am their father.”