Omar Epps is on a mission to shatter the myths surrounding black fatherhood. Epps is the executive producer of the full-length documentary Daddy Don’t Go, which takes a look at fatherhood through the lives of four New York City fathers.
Epps’ goal with the documentary is to shed light on men who are defying the statistics of fatherhood by being active parents in their children’s lives. Epps’ concept behind the documentary is to show that the statistic that 1 in 3 children in America are fatherless is just that, a statistic that can be defied.
In a statement, Epps said the following:
Being the product of a fatherless household, Daddy Don’t Go delves into an issue that’s close to my heart. In the media, we’re always inundated with the notion that black men and-or men from impoverished areas are absent fathers. Though that may be true to an extent, there are also thousands of young men fighting to be active fathers in their children’s lives. This fact gets smothered in the media by rampant negative imagery of black men and fatherless children. Daddy Don’t Go chronicles the journeys of four such men and their respective battles to parent their children. It’s time men like these have a platform and a voice to challenge the statistics and common ideology about the issue of fatherhood.
Daddy Don’t Go was made possible by donations through its Kickstarter campaign. Currently, the film is in its final stages and a release date has not been set yet. According to Pureland Pictures, donations are still needed to complete the film.
To learn more about the documentary, visit Pureland Pictures.