I Am Dad

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell welcomes Dr. Tova Walsh, Associate Professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for a deep and timely conversation about the evolving field of fatherhood research and the systems that still struggle to fully include fathers.
Dr. Walsh began her career as a home visitor working with families during pregnancy and early childhood. In that role, she quickly noticed something many systems still overlook today: programs often use words like “family” and “parent,” but in practice, they are designed around mothers and babies while fathers are left out.
This conversation explores how far fatherhood research has come, how far it still needs to go, and what it will take to build systems that treat fathers as essential to child and family wellbeing.
Kenneth and Dr. Walsh discuss:
• Why fatherhood research has grown dramatically over the last few decades• Why we no longer need to prove that fathers matter• How social work education still needs to better prepare practitioners to engage fathers• Why researchers must build real partnerships with fatherhood organizations and compensate fathers for their expertise• The need for stronger, more reliable fatherhood data• Why fatherhood needs a stronger national representative body or organizing infrastructure• How maternal and child health systems often leave fathers out by design• Why fathers should be included in prenatal care, pediatric care, and early childhood guidance• The importance of co-parenting support during the first year of a child’s life• How child support policy can harm low-income fathers and families when it is built around stereotypes• Why paternal mental health needs greater attention, especially during the transition to fatherhood• The emotional toll of child support debt, incarceration, unemployment, and relationship disruption• Whether father absence should be understood as an adverse childhood experience
Dr. Walsh also reflects on her own family story, including how her father’s history and family trauma shaped her understanding of parenting, fatherhood, and the need to support men as whole people.
This episode is a must-watch for fatherhood practitioners, researchers, social workers, policymakers, maternal and child health professionals, early childhood providers, child support leaders, family service organizations, and anyone committed to building stronger families by fully including fathers.

In this powerful Part 2 conversation on I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell welcomes back longtime friend, brother, faith leader, and community advocate Greg Owens for a deeper discussion on Black fatherhood, race, culture, leadership, and the work required to move from narrative to impact.
After Part 1 explored fatherhood, faith, and the Black church, this episode shifts into a broader and more critical conversation: what happens when the phrase “Black fathers” becomes more visible in research, policy, media, philanthropy, and public discourse?
Kenneth and Greg unpack the importance of naming Black fathers without reducing them to a stereotype or treating them as a monolithic group. They explore how conversations about race can either open doors to understanding or chase people out of the room when not handled with wisdom, precision, and care.
This episode examines:
• What it means to talk about Black fathers without flattening their experiences• Why race matters, but cannot be the only entry point into the conversation• How universal values such as safety, health, access, family, and dignity keep more people in the room• Why philanthropy after George Floyd often invested in ideas without building infrastructure• The difference between outputs, outcomes, and real community impact• Why Black men and Black women must resist being pushed into a “victimization war”• How leadership must move beyond transactions and toward transformation• What it means to raise Black children with culture, agency, faith, resilience, and discernment
Greg also reflects on raising his daughter and helping her develop confidence, agency, and cultural grounding while allowing her faith walk and identity to become her own. Kenneth adds powerful reflections on parenting through pain, watching children endure hardship, and understanding that some lessons cannot be rescued away.
This episode is a call to think more deeply about language, leadership, race, family, and impact. It asks us to move beyond slogans and toward strategy. Beyond visibility and toward infrastructure. Beyond representation and toward transformation.

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast opens a powerful conversation about fatherhood, faith, leadership, and the responsibility of the Black church to speak more intentionally to men and families.
Host Kenneth Braswell sits down with longtime friend, brother, faith leader, and community advocate Greg Owens inside Macedonia Baptist Church in Albany, New York. Their relationship crosses many spaces: community work, music, radio, church, fatherhood, family advocacy, and the shared commitment to strengthening Black families.
Together, Kenneth and Greg move beyond a simple “church conversation” and into something deeper: a conversation about faith, trust, leadership, justice, and how men experience spiritual spaces.
 

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast features a timely and important conversation from the Moynihan Institute for Fatherhood Research and Policy on how Black fathers are portrayed in television commercials and popular media.
Guest host Dr. David Miller sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Shears and Dr. Janice Kelly to discuss their research study on the portrayal of Black fathers in TV commercials. The conversation explores how Black fathers are often made invisible, reduced to background roles, or narrowly depicted in ways that do not reflect the lived experiences of many Black families.
The episode opens with a discussion of well-known advertising moments, including the public response to ads where Black fathers were absent from family-centered images. From there, the conversation moves into a deeper analysis of why representation matters, how advertising shapes public perception, and what Black fathers themselves said when asked to respond to commercials featuring fathers and families.
This episode explores:
• Why Black fathers are often missing or minimized in advertising• How TV commercials shape cultural narratives about family• Why authentic portrayals of Black fatherhood matter• What Black fathers said about how they want to be represented• The importance of showing fathers as nurturing, loving, funny, and present• Why intergenerational images of Black fathers, sons, and grandfathers matter• How advertisers can do better by listening to Black fathers directly• The need for more research on Black fathers in television, cable, faith communities, and grandparenthood
The discussion also highlights a critical truth: Black fathers are not asking for perfect portrayals. They are asking for full portrayals.
They want to be seen as caregivers, protectors, workers, nurturers, disciplinarians, partners, sons, grandsons, fathers, and grandfathers. They want commercials and media images that reflect the complexity, tenderness, humor, responsibility, and generational strength that exist in Black family life.
This episode is essential viewing for advertisers, media professionals, researchers, practitioners, fathers, families, and anyone who cares about reshaping the narrative around Black fatherhood.

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast is part of the Moynihan Institute Takeover, featuring a powerful conversation between Dr. Jeff Shears and Dr. Conial Caldwell on Black fathers, daughters, identity, beauty, and racial socialization.
Dr. Caldwell, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County School of Social Work and a proud girl dad, discusses his study, Preparing and Protecting: Black Fathers’ Racial Socialization Practices with Their Daughters. His research explores how Black fathers talk with their daughters about race, appearance, self-esteem, beauty standards, hair, skin tone, education, and navigating the world as Black girls and women.
This conversation challenges the assumption that mothers are the only parents shaping daughters’ understanding of beauty and identity. Dr. Caldwell explains how fathers reinforce positive messages about Black beauty, affirm their daughters’ natural hair and complexion, and prepare them for the social, academic, and professional spaces they will enter.
The episode explores:
• How Black fathers help shape daughters’ self-worth• Why conversations about race must begin early• The role fathers play in affirming Black beauty• How media and social media influence girls’ identity• Why daughters need protection and preparation• How “the talk” looks different with daughters than with sons• The importance of fathers learning about the world Black girls navigate• Why girl dads need language, awareness, and intentionality
Dr. Caldwell also reflects on how being a father of daughters informs his scholarship and helps him ask deeper questions about fatherhood, family, and Black girls’ development.
This episode is a must-watch for fathers, mothers, practitioners, educators, researchers, and anyone committed to strengthening Black families and helping daughters grow with confidence, dignity, and pride.

This episode of Sideline Dad, part of the I Am Dad Podcast Network, takes a powerful and refreshing turn by bringing a mother’s perspective into the conversation around youth sports, parenting, identity, and family.
Host Javin Foreman welcomes Crystal Garrett, a storyteller, producer, former Division I track athlete, and mother of elite young athletes navigating the modern sports landscape.
From growing up in Seattle surrounded by athletes to raising children competing at high levels in baseball, tennis, basketball, and track, Crystal shares the emotional realities of parenting in today’s youth sports culture.
This conversation explores:
• The unique role mothers play in youth sports• Raising confident athletes without overwhelming them• Why sports teach life skills far beyond the game• Navigating injury, disappointment, and identity• The business of travel sports and youth athletics• Why today’s sports culture can rob children of joy• The emotional impact of recruiting, rankings, and expectations• The importance of balancing sports, academics, faith, and family
Crystal also discusses her acclaimed documentary Black to the Bigs, which examines the declining presence of Black athletes in Major League Baseball and the systemic barriers impacting Black youth participation in the sport.
Throughout the episode, one truth remains clear:
Sports are never just about sports.
They are about confidence. Identity. Discipline. Community. Family. Pressure. Dreams. And the people standing beside our children while they chase them.
This episode is a must-watch for parents, coaches, athletes, and anyone trying to raise children with purpose in a competitive world.

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast tackles one of the most urgent public health issues facing Black families today: the Black maternal health crisis.
Hosted by Dr. David Miller, this important conversation features Dr. Jeffrey Shears, a nationally respected researcher focused on Black fathers, family systems, and community wellbeing.
Together, they examine a question too often ignored in maternal health conversations:
What role can Black fathers play in helping reduce maternal stress, improve pregnancy outcomes, and support healthier families?
Drawing from new research conducted through the Moynihan Institute for Fatherhood Research and Policy, Dr. Shears explains why fathers should be viewed not as risks—but as resources.
The conversation explores:
• The alarming disparities in Black maternal and infant mortality• Why stress is a major factor in maternal health outcomes• The overlooked role of fathers during pregnancy and childbirth• How healthcare systems often ignore or dismiss fathers• The importance of communication between mothers and fathers• Why fathers need education and support during pregnancy too• The impact of generational parenting and lived experiences• How community-based fatherhood programming can strengthen maternal health outcomes
Dr. Shears also discusses why the Moynihan Institute chose to reclaim the controversial legacy of the Moynihan Report as a framework for advancing modern fatherhood research and policy conversations.
This episode is both a research discussion and a call to action.
Because if we are serious about saving Black mothers, we must also become serious about supporting Black fathers.

This special Mother’s Day episode of I Am Dad Podcast brings together humor, wisdom, fatherhood, motherhood, and the kind of seasoned truth only Griff can deliver.
Host Kenneth Braswell welcomes back Arlen “Griff” Griffin, co-host of the nationally syndicated gospel radio show Get Up Mornings with Erica Campbell, comedian, husband, father, and author of the new book Cats and Puppies: This Is Not a Book About Animals.
Written as a bold, funny, and deeply honest love letter to mothers raising sons, Griff’s book uses the metaphor of cats and puppies to explore the emotional, developmental, and relational differences between mothers and sons, especially when a father is not present in the home.
Together, Kenneth and Griff discuss:
• Why mothers need both grace and support• The moment a boy begins shifting into manhood• Why moms should not have to be “mother and father”• How men can honor mothers while still telling the truth• Griff’s relationship with his mother and how it shaped him• Marriage, fatherhood, comedy, and purpose• Why sons need language for loving and respecting their mothers• The power of laughter, wisdom, and lived experience
This conversation is not just about a book. It is about honoring mothers, strengthening sons, and helping families better understand the emotional journey from boyhood to manhood.
If you are a mother raising a son, a father who loves his mother, a husband learning how to honor the women in his life, or a son still trying to understand the woman who raised him, this episode is for you.

This episode of the I Am Dad Podcast offers a rare and honest look at what it means to build a life, a family, and a creative career—all at the same time.
Guest host Javin Foreman sits down with rising artist Ashton Stevens for a conversation that goes beyond music and into the heart of manhood.
Originally from Florida and now building his career in Atlanta, Ashton shares his journey as a creative shaped by faith, family, and responsibility. But more importantly, he opens up about becoming a father in real time—navigating a growing family, supporting a pregnant wife, raising a toddler, and balancing it all while pursuing his purpose as an artist.
This is not just a story about music. It is a story about identity.
In this episode, Ashton and Javin explore:
• The reality of becoming a young father and husband• How fatherhood reshapes ambition and focus• Balancing creativity with responsibility• Emotional regulation and mental health for men• The pressure of providing while pursuing purpose• Why authenticity matters more than trends in music and life• The responsibility of influence as an artist
Ashton also shares the inspiration behind his single “Edge,” a raw and reflective track that explores pressure, emotion, and the internal battles many men face but rarely speak about.
At its core, this conversation asks a deeper question:
Who are you becoming while you are chasing what you want?
Because for Ashton Stevens, success is not just about the spotlight—it is about the legacy he is building at home.

This episode of Sideline Dad, part of the I Am Dad Podcast network, delivers a powerful conversation about fatherhood, sports, discipline, and the real meaning of going pro.
Host Javin Foreman is joined by former professional basketball player and elite trainer Derrek Hamilton, a father who has successfully raised two high-achieving sons—one an Ivy League athlete and scholar, the other an NFL Pro Bowl player.
From growing up in Mobile, Alabama, to playing professionally overseas, to training NBA-level talent, D. Ham shares a journey defined by discipline, pivots, and purpose. But more importantly, he reveals what it truly takes to raise children who succeed both on and off the field.
This conversation explores:
• The difference between raising athletes and raising people• Why parents must get out of their child’s way to allow growth• How to balance sports, academics, and character development• Navigating divorce while still raising successful children• Recognizing when your child’s path is different than yours• The importance of exposure, mentorship, and global perspective• Why “going pro” in life matters more than going pro in sports
D. Ham also reflects on parenting through adversity, including injury, pressure, and expectations—and how letting go of timelines can unlock a child’s true potential.
This episode is a masterclass in intentional fatherhood, reminding us that the sidelines are not just where we watch games—they are where we shape futures.