*This Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, 2015 at the Westin Long Beach Judge Mablean’s 13th Annual H.U.F./Honoring Unsung Fathers Awards & Scholarship Brunch is set to uplift fathers from across the nation.
“I believe that fathers play an important role in the lives of their children, particularly in girls,” said Judge Mablean Ephriam. “They teach them how they should be treated, and how a man should care for them, how a man should love them.”
So often in our media driven society we allow the image of fathers to become degraded and warped due to the portrayal of men inside the African American community as slothful, disrespectful and worthless. In particular, the image of African American fatherhood is often either overlooked, or filtered through stereotypical assumptions that the average person does not fight against. On the contrary, most of the people in the community and society at large either accepts or aids in the promotion of the African American father as a negative entity in the world.
The Mablean Ephriam Foundation was founded by Mablean Ephriam in 2002. Ephriam is best known for her role as feisty, take-no-mess ‘attitude of Judge Mablean’ but shows her caring and generous side by hosting this year’s tribute to fathers everywhere.
Judge Mablean is moving to change this misconception and others like it bit by bit. She hopes that by honoring and promoting fatherhood as a positive and important aspect of the African American culture that the society at large would begin to change their understanding of what fatherhood in the black community looks like.
Judge Mablean comes from a strong family with a loving set of parents who taught her the value of a strong man in the home.
“I believe fathers are role models and the youth can learn from them,” adds Judge Mablean. “They can learn how to be a son and how to be a man. I’m from the old school; I believe that the men are in fact the head of the house. They are the nurturers, the providers for the children.”
Her experience has led her to the understanding that knowing the love and the good deeds of a caring father “leads them to avoid any man who will choose to abuse them.” The reality is that many in the African American community gravitate to the media inspired thought process of the inner city father that is not there for their children, therefore some men justify their negative actions and some others assume and expect similar. This stigma is just not the reality of the majority of fathers in the African American community and Judge Mablean’s H.U.F.F. awards seeks to expose those who work hard at being the father of legend and of honor.
Judge Mablean agrees with this sentiment stating:
“The inspiration for the Unsung Fathers Awards Dinner was the negativity portrayed by the negative traits of our African American men. At the time that I began, it was all out war from the service offices to collect child support. Men were being arrested. They were losing jobs and this whole thing about them in the news. So I started this dinner to combat all of that negative energy.”
Going into its 13th year, the H.U.F. seeks to expose the hidden gems that fatherhood produces inside the African American community.
“H.U.F. Awards are the Honoring Unsung Fathers,” continued Judge Mablean. “It is an awards brunch where men and women in the communities are allowed to nominate the men in their lives. Whether it’s their father, personally, or an uncle or cousin or co-worker or anyone else that they know that’s a male in existence that is a good example of a father. It’s for fathers who go about their lives, taking care of their children and they go unnoticed. Fathers that have no history of domestic violence, or child support errors, who are actively involved in the lives of their children. We honor them on Father’s Day. We roll out the red carpet, we have entertainment. We have a wonderful afternoon of food and comedy. It’s just a great event for the family and it a time for men to share their lives.”
Judge Mablean’s 13th Annual Honoring Unsung Fathers Awards & Scholarship Brunch will be held at the Westin Long Beach on Father’s Day. For more information on the H.U.F. Awards or the Mablean Ephriam Foundation go to Go to www.hufawards.com or www.mableanephriamfoundation.com. The Westin Long Beach is located 333 East Ocean Blvd. in sunny Long Beach, California.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
