
I grew up without my father and for much of my life imagined what that relationship was like; to have a father. Now the father of a daughter and son, I am committed to being a dedicated figure in the lives of my children in the hopes that I have done my part to heal the damages many black men and women have experienced due to significant lack of black male fathers and father figures.
This is how Brooklyn-born, Atlanta-based artist Fahamu Pecou describes the motivation behind the inception of his blog Passage of Right: A Black Man's Journey. Decidedly candid, the blog pushes the limits of being more than just an online journal of his daily activities and engulfs readers into the history that has inspired one of today's most prolific artists to "end the cycle of disconnectivity which afflicts African American males."
From detailed accounts of the day his father murdered his mother ("during one of the most tragic events in my life, an experience that would alter the course of my life, I was completely unaware") to his personal journey of learning forgiveness ("Forgiving can be equated to breathing. One must breathe out in order to breathe in. You gotta let go to let in."), Pecou allows readers to access a very personal, very real, ongoing transformation.
Through his words, Pecou seems to hope others will not only be guided towards their own individual metamorphosis, but find encouragement to ignite communal rebuilding and reorganization.
Check him out. Witness his revolution. Because not only is Fahamu Pecou the Shit, but he thinks we, the African-American community, are pretty damn fly too.
Thank you.
Photo: "Look Ma, No Shuffle" by Fahamu Pecou as photographed by C-Monster.