Our Fathers

Many people don’t understand why black lives must matter and why the racial divide seems to be taking the country back 50 years. Like the mythical Sankofa bird, the answer to what’s missing now lies in what existed before. Our Fathers: Making Black Men focuses on one block of St. Louis in the mid-20th century, where African American businessmen living the American Dream also created a sense of community for boys in that neighborhood. Lincoln I. Diuguid, a PhD graduate of Cornell University in chemistry, anchored the block with Du-Good Chemical Laboratories & Manufacturers. The chemistry the book reveals isn’t rocket science, it’s just the lost formula of community engagement. Men like Doc gave boys on the street jobs and a strong work ethic. They did it through sharing the African American narrative of triumphs and tragedies. They pushed the boys to higher expectations and to be the long-held hope and dreams of their forbearers, who were slaves. The black men as mentors emphasized the importance of education and helped prepare the African American boys to be men. This book brings to life an unreported but significant phenomenon that black businesses played during the Great Migration of African Americans from the South. Our Fathers should be required reading for people who want to reverse the despair, improve public education, blow up the school-to-prison pipeline and end hopelessness in America’s cities.