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

1.   The Manhood Tree Podcast
   1. Starting January 2021
      
2. Fatherhood Manologues Day
   1. February 10, 2021
   2. Live at the University of St. Joseph’s.Streaming on Facebook
3. The Manhood Tree Group at USJ
   1. February 15, 2021-April 19, 2021
   2. Plus the Fatherhood Manologues
4. Conduct at least 4 rounds of The Manhood Tree group for the year.
5. Continue doing A little Fatherly Advice Monthly
   1. Every 3rd Saturday of the month @10am on Facebook
6. Turn the Men’s Health Initiative Form into an app.
7. Meet with Makers Space to discuss the next iteration of the Fatherhood Pole.
8. Record Fatherhood Engagement Training Videos.
9. Father’s Day 5k-Cookout and Concert-Is this feasible?
10. The Five Hoods Documentary
11. The Five Hoods Photo Shoot
12. The Manhood Tree Retreat  

Join our mailing list, like our pages on Facebook and Instagram.  Come back to our website often!
 

Another month, and I forgot to blog...Geesh!  I guess, we've been busy.  For the month of November, we dropped 5 new Fatherhood Manolouges from a collaboration with the summer Arts Mentors program.  We had 5 artist add their poetic twist on the Fatherhood Manolouges.  Their videos can be viewed here. 

We continued on with A Little Fatherly Advice, facilitated by Demetrius Chamblee and Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad.  The video from our last group can be viewed here.

We conducted our Turning 50 Barriers to Fatherhood Engagement into 50 Opportunities for Fatherhood Engagement training virtually for the Manchester Connecticut office of DCF over for sessions throughout the month.

We started a new group of five for our Manhood Tree eight week Manhood Tree curriculum.  This group of men will be graduating on December 21, 2020.  We also hope each of them will be doing a Fatherhood Manolouge to add to our offering of stories about being a father or being fathered.

We are a step closer to putting out our first Fatherhood Pole.  At this point all we have to do is attach the signs, dig a hole and display our work.  Stay tuned!

Lastly, we have been promoting "The 5 Hoods Photo Contest".  More information can be found here.

Most importantly, download the Men's Health Initiative form and go get checked!  Your health is the most important thing you can do for your family, friends and for yourself.

Stay connected.  We are launching our podcast in 2021 and we are excited about getting our voice out to the world.

Peace.

It has been over a month since the last time I blogged about anything...I have to do better.  The thing is, we (The Manhood Tree Initiatives and I) have been busy.  Since the last time I wrote, we have completed The Manhood Tree group with the majority of the men that work at My People Clinical Services (that's close to 40 men)! We have also been working on the Fatherhood Pole and hope to have the first one in the ground by Thanksgiving.  On last Monday, we started to debut on Facebook and on this website the latest group of Fatherhood Manologues from our summer collaboration with Arts Mentors,  Check out Frederick Douglass Knowles II here.  We will have four more Manolouges debut over the next few weeks.  This Saturday, October 31, 2020 at 10 am, we have our latest "A Little Fatherly Advice" group.  So grab your kids and join in, you can find more information here.  We have secured another round of fatherhood training with DCF (YEAH!) where will be helping them turn 50 Barriers to Fatherhood Engagement to 50 Opportunities for Fatherhood Engagement.  Lastly, in the coming days, we will be putting out information on the 5 Hoods Winter Photo Contest so stay tuned.  I will try to do better with keeping the blog up going forward.  Until next time, Peace!

Brothers, How are you doing?  Before you respond even in your mind, take a moment and really think about your answer.  How are you really doing?  When I take a moment to think about how I am doing, I feel the juxtaposition of being in a good place in my life while at the same time worrying what could happen to me.  Almost every day, I see a video where a young Black man or older Black man is being harassed by police.  I often wonder what I would do if stopped by the police and the situation escalated.  How would I get home?  What would I need to say or do that would be right?  I tell myself all the time that I am a good guy, a "upstanding citizen" but how do I stop a man with ill intentions.  I feel like I still have much to do.  I want to make my impact in the world.  Do something big.  Be someone.  I have been considering going to therapy.  I want to talk to someone who will listen.  I want to (as I like to say) blow someone's mind.  I just want to rant it all out.  All my fears, hopes and dreams.  Right before I started writing, I was thinking, "How do I get more traffic to The Manhood Tree website?".  I have decided that I have to offer value.  Real value.  I would like to use this blog as an opportunity for me to share my thoughts, ideas, feelings and beliefs about my personal journey and The Manhood Tree.  I would like you to join in.  So, Brothers, How are you doing?
Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad
The Manhood Tree

As a part of the Fatherhood in Place Initiative, myself and a number of the other fathers have completed Wood Shop Certification.  I'm the only one who took a couple pictures.  I plan to document as much of the project as possible.  Stay Tuned!