Boston Globe: The Parent Trap

My comment about the below article is going to surprise some folk, because I am going to defend Calvin "Snoop-Dogg" Broadius based off what I seen on the show. Now I am not going to discount the article in regards to the percentage of single mothers and men not being in the home...I get that, but to use Snoop as an example, and I can't speak for Run cause I haven't seen the show, but I have seen and watched "Father-hood." Now I know Snoop, cause like him, I grew up in Long Beach, CA, (North Long Beach to be exact) and he grew up on the Eastside of town, and we all know each other from, Long Beach Jordan and Long Beach Poly High School that are both on Atlantic Ave. So I know Snoop and can either verify and question some things but! as for his works in the community, you can't criticize. For instance, with his own money, he started his own pop warner league. When we grew up we had Pop Warner football, Little League Baseball and Basketball. The parks were functioning programs where we had places to go and do. We had that, and what we also had, was involved dads! whether they were in the house or not, pops were there and played a huge role in our lives. I even seen it in reverse, where the father was raising the kids and the mother was absent.

But in Snoop's case, he did that and gave back. Next, in one of the episodes, he took those same two sons [mentioned in the column] to his old neighborhood in Long Beach and showed them, his life, where he hung out and you know where else he took them?

TO SCHOOL!! and had the principal of Long Beach Poly talk to his sons and the principal didn't pull punches, he told them, their father wasn't the best student, wasn't the best behaved and he got lucky cause he had a talent and someone took a chance on him. It paid back when we rushed to buy "Doggie Style, " his first [solo] album. Snoop made an interesting comment after they left the school.

"I know I messed up in school, but for all you kids out there, you never realize how much fun school was, until you look back and remember all the good times. School is cool."

Next, they went to his cousins house, where to my surprise a old classmate of mine was on the show. I heard rumors that he was hooked on drugs some time ago, so you can imagine how happy I was to see him alive and giving a life lesson to Snoop's boys, his relatives.

Now if that ain't a father, what is? Snoop's dad wasn't in his life, he had his uncle and cousin and a strong mother that went to a strong spirit filled church. In short, the man is there for his three kids and adoptive son. On his show, I figured out why he looks the way he looks, the man when he is recording is gone at all hours of the night and at the same time, traveling to push his CD. He said this one interesting thing:

"When I start a new project and have to do all this traveling, I rather not do it because I miss my wife (high school sweetheart) and kids and then I realize what I'm working for and it's all for them, so when I'm done doing all this traveling and promoting. I can be home with them."

Are there celebrities out there pimping their families...probably, Is Snoop one of them?
Hell Diggitty Naw!


Boston Globe: The Parent Trap

In a recent episode of "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood," the rapper's 10-year-old son, Cordell, and his son's friends play around by fake-slapping one another. Snoop doesn't approve of what they're doing and, as he leaves the room, tells them to stop. The kids don't listen. Instead Cordell becomes slap happy, fake-hitting three friends in a row. One gets up and slaps Cordell, accidentally connecting with Cordell's eye.

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nullSnoop Dogg has no sympathy as he returns to the room after hearing his son's cries. "I told y'all 20 minutes ago to stop playing," he says. As his wife, Shante, takes a look at Cordell's face, Snoop says to his son, "You got to be able to take a blow if you can give a blow, cuz."

"Father Hood," an E! channel series that shows Snoop parenting his three children with his wife, is one of three television shows depicting fatherhood from a rapper's perspective. "Gotti's Way," which ended its first season on VH1 late last year, focused on producer Irv Gotti as he tried to revive his record label, The Inc.; it included family scenes of him interacting with his children. "Run's House," which has completed four seasons on MTV, shows former Run-DMC member Rev. Run parenting his blended family: three children from his first marriage and twins by his second wife.

"We think that these guys - because they're rappers, because of their connection to hip-hop, and because of the way that we think of black men as fathers in this society - we think, 'OK, they must not be good men. They can't be good fathers,' " says Mark Anthony Neal, a Duke University professor specializing in pop culture. "But when it comes to their children, what you see are men who are very much engaged, in touch, and responsible about their children."

The parenting abilities displayed in these shows play against persistent stereotypes in pop culture that present black men as absent fathers. It's not only celebrities who are fighting this perception. Plenty of black men have become effective parents despite lacking a father figure growing up. Until recently, these men's struggles were barely recognized. Now a number of books, television shows, and films are celebrating this movement by showing black fathers responsibly parenting their children.

Three photography books featuring images of black fathers were released last year: "Daughters of Men: Portraits of African-American Women and Their Fathers," "Pop: A Celebration of Black Fatherhood," and "I Am a Father: Celebrating African-American Fathers." Recent films such as "Daddy's Little Girls," "The Pursuit of Happyness," and "Something New" showcase black fathers who are important in their children's lives.

To read more: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2008/03/03/the_parent_trap/?page=1