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For the last six weeks, I have been in the hospital and recovering at home. To make a long story short, after 20 years with a kidney transplant, my kidney failed for the second time. Interestingly enough, my doctor and I planned for my kidney failure, therefore, I was prepared for it. On the back burner, I met with my cardiologist and did a stress test. Which came back inconclusive. The plan was to wait for my kidney to fail again and then put some dye in my heart to see what was going on. After being in the hospital a week, they did the test and found out that three of the arteries to my heart were blocked; one 100% and the other two 95%. I had to have open heart surgery! This was unexpected. So anyways, I have been recovering from open heart surgery and going back on dialysis three days a week for three and a half hours.
That being said, it is no better time to get things going with The Manhood Tree again. Next month, we will be hosting a Men's Health event titled, "No More Suffering in Silence". This event will be a panel discussion of men who have been dealing with a variety of health issues and how they have dealt with and processed the situation. We also want to encourage other men to go to the doctor on a consistent basis and be aware of what is going on with their health. We will also be starting a new Manhood Tree Group next month and looking for individuals to write Fatherhood Manologues. Lastly, we will be starting The Manhood Tree Podcast. Stay tuned, get connected. We are making moves.
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For the remainder of 2021, The Manhood Tree will be working to get our schedules together for 2022. Our goal next year is to get funding which will allow us to conduct groups, work on Fatherhood Manologues and Fatherhood Poles and promote The Men's Health Initiative on a consistent basis. We are currently in the process of writing a play with Hartbeat Ensemble based on the first Fatherhood Manologues. We are also updating the Manhood Tree Curriculum. We have been doing a lot of thinking about doing The Manhood Tree Podcast. The podcast would allow for more in depth discussions about the Fatherhood Manologues, Men's Health Initiative and be an open resource for ALL Manhood Tree news. We believe that men could really benefit from having another outlet that allows them to be their true self. We want to create a platform for men to grow. Stay tuned.
 My nephew Muraad had a baby on Saturday. His daughter, Najimah which mean "radiant", "brilliant" in Arabic was born two month premature. I told him, "That just gives you two additional months in her life". More time to get to know her, love her. After I spoke to him via Facetime and saw the baby, a thought crossed my mind. His mother, my sister Jamilah who passed away almost three years ago would have loved this moment. She would have loved Najimah. She would have been so loud about it! I could hear her now exclaiming, "This is my baby!" "Don't call me grandma!" Call me Grandma J, or Mama J or some other name with a twist. She would say all the things that a new father would need to build his confidence. She would fill in the gap where things are missing. If Jamilah was around, everything would be O.K..
A lot of the times when we talk about fatherhood, we talk about the importance of young fathers having had a role model, a man to pattern their fatherhood off of. We preach the importance of fathers for boys and speak about how needed men are in the lives of their children. I agree with what we preach but today, my nephew would have really benefited from a cheerleader. He would have been lifted up in a unique way (that not many fathers have the capability to do) if his mother was here. Motherly love is something else! With my sister in mind, I am going to try to muster more energy the next time I speak to him. The journey of fatherhood and relationships have their ups and downs, twist and turns; maybe I can be a erratic fan...a uncle that cheers even when our team is down. Maybe I can believe and support him in a unique way, far beyond my normal demeanor; like his mom would. Unconditionally, at least until he gets his footing and feels the strength of being responsible for another human being that he helped bring into this world. I can do that. GO MURAAD! The performers from the Fatherhood Manologues will be having a conversation with students from multiple disciplines on the intersection of men, families and health on March 25, 2021 at 4:30pm. This event is exclusively for the University of St. Joseph's students.  On February 10, 2021 we will celebrate Fatherhood Manologues Day. We will have 15+ individuals performing their Fatherhood Manologue on the Autorino Stage at the University of St. Joseph's. Two weeks later, a documentary of the day will debut followed by a Zoom discussion. The entire production is to celebrate the memory of Abdul-Rahmaan Abd-Raheem Muhammad. Join us!  Our Founder, Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad will be co-facilitating this conversation. It should be powerful! Don't miss it!  Join us in congratulating the latest graduates of the 8 week Manhood Tree Group. Shout out to Timothy Fraylon, Epifano Garcia, Sammy Vega, Alonzo Little and Anthony Smith. If you are interested in participating in one of our groups in the future, contact us. Going forward, every February 10th The Manhood Tree will celebrate my father, Abdul-Rahmaan Abd-Raheem Muhammad by asking every man who has written a Fatherhood Manologue to join us and perform. This year, we will be back where everything started at the University of St. Joseph's in West Hartford, CT. Due to Covid, we will be streaming live all day with performances, interviews and more. Don't miss it!  At the end of the last A Little Fatherly Advice, a father made a comment about the difficulty he has been experiencing with the mother of his child. He expressed the desire to be active and involved but being roadblocked. Due to his comments, we thought it would be a good time to discuss the topic of being a non custodial father and how to repair broken relationships in the best interest of the child. Register to join us on Zoom or watch on Facebook. Register here: Hi there, You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Jan 16, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtdu-prTMjHNIxcXCLhbGYIc8OX-Meh9x4 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.   In 2021, The Manhood Tree is going to be extremely busy! More groups, more Fatherhood Manolouges, more initiatives! We will also be launching our podcast, newsletter and be more intentional with our social media presence. Our major goal for 2021 is to make connections with organizations nationally that want to use our curriculum, trainings and initiative to help men to be the best versions of themselves. Below is a list of our plans as of today:
The Manhood Tree 2021
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