Healing Generations: Call for Compassionate Parenting and Understanding
“From the Desk of Mitchell Royel
To the Black Community, Our Families, and Our Future,
I write to you today not as a critic, but as a concerned voice seeking to address the profound challenges of father absence and mental health stigma that continue to fracture our community’s foundation.
Invisible Burden: Fatherhood Beyond Biology
Fatherhood is not merely a biological designation—it is a sacred responsibility that transcends genetic connection. Whether biological or chosen, a father’s role is to provide support, guidance, and unconditional love. Yet, our community continues to struggle with a pervasive narrative that defines fatherhood through narrow, outdated lenses.
The Mental Health Paradigm Shift
When a child is diagnosed with a mental health condition, parental responsibility does not diminish—it transforms. This is a critical understanding that many in our community have yet to embrace. Mental health is not a choice, not a weakness, and certainly not a reason for abandonment.
Key Realities We Must Confront:
Mental health conditions are medical realities, not personal failures
Parental support is crucial for managing neurological and psychological challenges
Abandonment compounds existing mental health struggles
Systemic Roots of Disconnection
Our community has long been burdened by generational trauma, systemic oppression, and a survival mentality that often prioritizes emotional detachment as a protective mechanism. This survival strategy, while once necessary, now undermines our collective healing.
Breaking the Cycle of Silence
The stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community is not just a personal issue—it is a collective wound that requires collective healing. We must:
Normalize conversations about mental health
Provide support without judgment
Recognize that mental health challenges do not define a person’s worth
Call to Expanded Parental Responsibility
For fathers—biological and chosen—your role expands when mental health challenges arise:
Educate yourself about your child’s specific condition
Attend medical and therapeutic appointments
Create a supportive, understanding home environment
Advocate for your child’s needs in educational and social settings
Political Landscape and Potential Allies
While the Republican Party has historically been critiqued for limited engagement with mental health issues, recent discussions have begun to acknowledge the importance of comprehensive mental health support.
Our Collective Responsibility
We cannot wait for systemic change. We must be the change.
To every father who feels overwhelmed, to every parent struggling to understand, to every individual battling mental health challenges—you are not alone. Our community’s strength lies in our ability to evolve, to learn, and to support one another unconditionally.
With hope and determination,
Mitchell Royel
Voice for Healing, Understanding, and Transformation”